Trustees Approve Slight Tuition Increase

The East Central College Board of Trustees on Feb. 7 approved a slight increase in tuition costs beginning in the fall 2022 semester.

There will be a $5 credit hour tuition bump for students who live within the district, outside the district and for international students.

ECC Vice President of Finance and Administration DeAnna Cassat said the increase was determined by a subcommittee of the Budget Advisory Committee focused specifically on tuition, which presented its findings to administrators.

She explained the tuition subcommittee’s focus was on intentional, long-range planning and key factors such as a predicted declines in high school population both nationally and in Missouri were considered.

In addition, gradual tuition increases over larger, less frequent increases are preferred by the subcommittee, administrators and trustees.

“Smaller increases over time are easier for our students than larger sporadic increases,” Cassat commented.

She further explained the tuition subcommittee includes staff and faculty from different departments at the college who collaboratively work together to establish a recommendation.

“It is a very collaborative group that put a lot of work into this decision and provided a lot of data and information,” she said.

ECC ranks in the Top 5 in least costly community colleges among the 14 institutions in Missouri regarding tuition. More than half of the community colleges in the state will raise tuition for the Fall 2022 semester.

Cassat noted that the tuition increase is 4.5 percent, which is lower than the 7 percent nationwide inflation rate.

Tuition and fees also are lower than the amount students receive in A+ funds and Pell grants.

“That is really important to us,” Cassat said. “We want to stay under those thresholds for our students.”

ECC President Dr. Jon Bauer added that a full-time student taking 15 credit hours will pay $4,300 in tuition and fees. Students who qualify for Pell grants receive $6,500 in federal aid.

Tuition Tiers

There are three tiers of tuition at ECC. Tier 1 includes most programs, as well as general education classes. Tier 2 consists of classes in culinary arts, industrial maintenance technology, nursing and precision machining programs.

There will be no change to the Tier 3 tuition, which includes health care programs at ECC Rolla, radiological technology, surgical technology and licensed practical nursing (LPN) programs.

The new in-district tuition rates will be $115 per credit hour for Tier 1 classes. In-district rates for Tier 2 classes will be $139 per credit hour.

The cost for dual-credit and dual-enrollment courses in the 2022-23 academic year will be $58 per credit hour, an increase of $3 per hour.

Out-of-district rates will be $161 and $195 per credit hour for Tier 1 and Tier 2, respectively.

The rates per credit hour for out-of-state students will be $235 for Tier 1 and $286 for Tier 2. Tuition for international students will be $241 per credit hour for Tier 1, and $306 per credit hour for Tier 2.

Student Fees

There was a $3 increase per credit hour in student fees also approved by trustees, bringing the total to $30 per credit hour. In addition, there are slight changes in the areas where the fees will be spent. Listed below is the fee breakdown and how it was changed:

• Student Activities $9 per credit hour (previously $8.50).
• Support Services $1 per credit hour (no change).
• Technology $3 per credit hour (no change).
• Facilities $8 per credit hour (no change).
• Security $9 per credit hour (previously $7.50).