The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

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Bucks announces tuition hikes for fall semester

Bucks+announces+tuition+hikes+for+fall+semester

The college’s Board of Trustees voted April 14 to increase
tuition by $5 a credit for county residents, and Bucks students, not surprisingly, aren’t happy.
According to college President Dr. Stephanie Shanblatt, “Starting with this coming fall semester, tuition will increase from $135 to $140 a credit. Tuition for Pennsylvania residents who live outside of Bucks County will go from $270 to $280 a credit, and tuition for out-of state residents increases from $405 to $420 a credit.”
While this may not seem like a major increase, over time, this money begins to add up. Eventually, students will be paying a lot more than they used to for the exact same education.
“I think any increase in college tuition is a negative thing. People need an education today and the fact that it’s being raised creates a spiral effect,” said Alexandria Mendoza, a communications major from Langhorne.
“People need an education to get jobs, and need a job to pay for education, but students don’t yet have a high enough education to get good jobs to pay for their schooling,” Mendoza said.
“Since most students have to pay for college it puts a toll on them because they might be only working part-time as a full time student and not have enough funds to cover their tuition,” said Julia Lehman, a 19-year-old communications major.
With an increase in tuition, this just adds to the amount students have to be working to help with the costs of a college education.
Board chairman, Jim Dancy said, “As always, our primary goal is to minimize tuition increases and to do so only as a last option”.
Alexander Bujak, a 19-year-old advertising major, reacted to the news by saying, “Raising tuition should rarely be done, because it affects the overall look of the school negatively.” He added, “The money should be found through other means.”
Bujak mentioned that he did not think that the $5 increase per credit would effect enrollment for the fall semester, though.
The extra money that will be obtained through the hike in tuition is being used to maintain academic quality and services according to Shanblatt. Her main focus is that Bucks continues to be “a great value with strong academic programs.”
Even with the increase in tuition, Bucks is still a much cheaper alternative compared to surrounding universities.
“I can attest that the college’s effort to control costs has been ongoing and extensive,” said Bruce Imber, a Business Studies professor at Bucks. “The reality is that the community college [was] launched in 1964 on a model that has the state covering 1/3 of costs, the county covering 1/3 of costs, and student tuition covering 1/3 of costs.”
While some students may feel as if this tuition increase wasn’t the best approach, not all students see the tuition hike in a negative light.
Jonathan Cohen, 22-year-old communications major said, “Bucks has a great educational value given the multitude of options that there are in the way in which one can gain an education. Even with the increase of $5 – $15 per credit.”