Northwest College explores increasing student fees

Posted 3/1/18

A needs assessment report for fiscal year 2019, presented to the college’s board of trustees last month, recommended raising mandatory student fees by $3 per credit hour, charging more fees to students with heavier credit loads and changing the …

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Northwest College explores increasing student fees

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Northwest College leaders are considering a series of proposals that would raise student fees.

A needs assessment report for fiscal year 2019, presented to the college’s board of trustees last month, recommended raising mandatory student fees by $3 per credit hour, charging more fees to students with heavier credit loads and changing the way student wellness fees are assessed.

NWC President Stefani Hicswa told the board that “these [current] fees are not designed to ... have the money to do all the things that we did before we made budget cuts. That’s very important as we talk to students and make good on our promise of what we are doing.”

With the cuts being permanent, “we’re looking at inflation and what we need in specific areas,” she said.

Vice President of Administrative Services Lisa Watson said all student fees were reviewed and evaluated “for their support of current operations, future needs and external factors.”

Before presenting the recommendations to the board, Watson and Residence and Campus Life Director Dee Havig solicited input from NWC Student Senate members. The feedback they received in January favored maintaining existing services.

“Student input was imperative in developing the recommendation that we did,” Hicswa said. “If the students had been opposed to what was put together, we would have gone back and re-worked it. The students are pretty savvy about finances and how it works. They know costs are increasing, and they know we’ve had budget cuts. In order to maintain services that they want, they are willing to pay for it, which I appreciate. They get it.”

However, Hicswa said increasing fees is never an easy decision.

“It seems that tuition and fees is the only way to increase revenue at this point,” she said. “But you can only increase it so far before it starts affecting enrollment. It really is a double-edged sword between us needing revenue versus limiting access for students.”

The $3 per credit hike in mandatory fees would include a $.50 increase for instruction equipment, $.25 for student health fees, a $.25 for training needs associated with Title IX and a $.50 increase to the facilities fee. The facilities fee, which hasn’t been hiked since its inception in 2013, would assist with NWC’s ability to “address current facility needs outside of support lines,” while having funds available for future projects..

The report also recommends converting the student wellness fee from a per student charge to a per credit hour charge.

Students currently pay a flat $15 per semester fee for student wellness. College staff recommend that change to a rate of $1.50 per credit hour, which would decrease overall costs for students taking under 10 credit hours, but increase the fees for full-time students.

Removing the cap on student fees may prove to be the most significant portion of the recommendation. For academic year 2017-18, Northwest College students are only paying fees on the first 15 credit hours of classes — up from a prior cap of 12 credit hours.

Removing the cap means students would pay fees on however many credit hours they take.

All of Wyoming’s community colleges are reviewing their caps on student fees following a Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) decision to remove caps on the tuition that students pay. That decision will have the effect of increasing tuition costs for students taking more than 15 credit hours.

“The result of that is increased revenue for the colleges; it meant having more money in the system without having to increase tuition by that much,” said Hicswa.

The WCCC struggled with the decision to remove the tuition cap before finally deciding to do so; the change is scheduled to be implemented beginning this fall, though the date is always subject to change. NWC is proceeding with its budgeting and planning as if that will happen, according to Hicswa.

Removing the cap on student fees would run parallel with removing the cap on tuition fees, and Watson told the board that will help with covering potential shortfalls when the tuition cap is removed.

“It’s a moving number, because it’s based on enrollment,” Watson said. “But it really will hit the spots that we needed.”

Hicswa commended the work of her staff — and specifically Watson, Havig and finance director Brad Bowen — in crunching the numbers for the recommendations, as well as the board for being open to data-driven analysis.

“I’ve always believed data-based decision-making is much better than analogy-based decision-making,” Hicswa said. “These particular board members want that, they’re demanding that of me, and I appreciate that, quite frankly. It pushes me and makes me a better president.”

The Board of Trustees will revisit the proposed recommendations at its March 12 meeting at NWC’s Cody Center.

“They weren’t ready to vote on it,” Hicswa said. “They needed to read through it and find what resonates for them. The board asked really good questions, and were really thoughtful in that. Whatever decision they make will be a good, well-thought out decision.”

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