One of the most important issues for students at
Glendale Community College (GCC) is the cost of tuition. GCC is one of ten
community colleges in the Maricopa
County Community College District (MCCCD). For the 2016-17 school year,
the cost of tuition to the students was increased $2.00 per credit hour. While
this seems to be a small amount, it adds up to a 2.4 percent increase for
full-time students with 30 credit hours of classes per year. In addition to the
tuition increase, there have also been increases in many of the course fees
paid by the students.
To understand these increases, a request for a
statement was sent to Mr. Alfredo Gutierrez, the president of the MCCCD Governing Board.
Unfortunately, no reply was received from President Gutierrez.
Researching these issues
through the MCCCD website and the local community college news has provided an
overview of the situation. Because the annual budget of MCCCD is in excess of
$1.4 billion, only the broadest outline can be provided. The funds for MCCCD
are provided through a combination of tax revenues, tuition and course fee
payments, state aid and other sources. However, the annual budget was reduced
by $68 million when Arizona pulled all state funding for the 2016-17 school
year. This
combined with reduced enrollment has increased the tuition cost. Fortunately
for the students, the increase is the smallest in several years.
To provide a student’s perspective on the increase in
tuition costs and course fees, I spoke with Shannon Crosby. He is studying Digital
Media Arts at GCC. Shannon said that he thinks that the tuition costs he is
paying are reasonable when compared to the costs of attending one of the state
universities in Arizona. I asked what he thought his tuition dollars paid for
and he assumed that they went to cover expenses directly associated with classes.
I asked what he thought of the course fees; he thought that some of them are ridiculous
high and don’t make any sense. Shannon feels that he doesn’t understand what
the fees are used for.
I also asked these questions of Dawn Creighton, a GCC alumnus.
She attended GCC between 2004 and 2006. She felt that the tuition costs at GCC were
reasonable, especially when compared to the tuition costs she paid after she
transferred to Arizona State University. I asked Dawn what she thought of the
course fees. Like Shannon, she felt that some were either too high or even
completely unnecessary.
After speaking to Shannon and Dawn, I did some additional
research to find out what tuition costs and course fees pay for. According the
MCCCD website, tuition and fees total approximately $288 million annually.
However, they make up a relatively small part of the overall budget at only 18
percent. It appears that the students of Glendale Community College and the
other Maricopa Community Colleges are receiving great value for the tuition
costs they pay.
Sources:
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