McHenry County College Board of Trustees, at Thursday's Board meeting, thoroughly discussed finances of the college as well as how tuition costs affect those attending classes at the institution. The end result is that tuition for the college will be increased by $8 a credit hour for a total of $90 per credit hour for in district students...
During discussion it was noted that there is considerable help available for those who have trouble meeting the costs. There are various grants available, and personnel at the College are available to help those needing assistance to apply for financial aid.
Surrounding community college fees are in the same category. College of Lake County fee is $90 per credit hour. Elgin Community College is listed at $99 per credit hour.
One MCC student, Jamie, told the Board she thinks a tuition increase would be better if it were applied all at one time, instead of incremental increases. This she says is similar to ripping off a band-aid. It only hurts for a short time. She explained that she is a single mother working toward being able to transfer her degree to a four-year college.
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In Thursdays meeting alone there was more than 4.3million dollars in new spending. Undoubtedly some of those expenses were necessary, but you can't say that all of them were necessary. Some of those projects could be completed without that level of funding.
There are a lot of instances where a project could be scaled back slightly to cut the cost without affecting the students education. The commons being remodeled is not an immediate need. It would not hurt a students ability to get an education, because there a pillars in the commons, or the carpet is not modern enough. This type of project is not acceptable when the school already knows that revenue is down.
Why is there a problem with making use of Woodstock's kitchen for a few more years? If it is currently meeting the needs it is good to be looking towards expanding the program, but the project could have been pushed back to a time when the schools finances would better allow the remodeling required, or even possibly the expansion of the schools facilities to allow more space on campus for the culinary program. The school should be looking for more opportunities to make use of the facilities at local high schools. It is a cost effective way to add and expand programs, that make good use of the taxpayers dollars at MCC as well as the host school.
The Board of trustees is trying to say that the need for this tuition increase is that the state is not doing its part. While yes, the state is not providing the level of support that they had said they would, it is not something that the trustees did not know was going to happen long before it did. All of the schools throughout Illinois: High Schools, Colleges, Elementary Schools, and Middle Schools, have all had to deal with this issue. The schools where the board took responsible action early on are not facing situations where they are asking for more tax and tuition dollars.
My name is Erik Sivertsen and I am running for MCC's Board of Trustees in the April 5th election. If you would like more information check out my website at ErikforTrustee.com
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