On Thursday, February 16, at 6:30 p.m., Mercer held its monthly Board of Trustees meeting at the James Kerney Campus (JKC). During the meeting, the board proposed and voted on a 4% tuition increase for the 2023 – 2024 academic year.
There were seven attendees in person. The meeting was also made available over Zoom, where there were 19 attendees.
Laura Schepps, Vice President of Finance and Administration, spoke to the board regarding the proposed increase.
“If a student takes 12 credits, the total amount of that increase for one semester will be $118.80. If a student takes 15 credits, the total amount per semester will increase $148.50,” Schepps said.
Schepps presented a PowerPoint that showed the tuition and fee increase from 2019 to the proposed 2024 fiscal year. There was a 4.07% increase from 2019 to 2020, 4.66% from 2020 to 2021, 1.99% (due to Covid) from 2021 to 2022, 3% from 2022 to 2023, and the proposed 4% from this year to 2024.
Schepps added that the tuition increase is needed to cover upcoming expenses.
“We have contractual obligations to increase our salaries for our staff. That amount will be about 1.2 million dollars,” Schepps continued. “The state is increasing the cost of healthcare which will amount to about $900,000.”
Schepps also stated inflation and supply chain issues as causes for the college’s increased expenses, including utilities, maintenance, Information Technology (IT) and supplies.
For students who aren’t on financial aid, paying for college can be a little more challenging.
“Over half of our students attend without financial aid and if we could help any student who is financially burdened by an increase, we’re going to do everything we can to help the student that needs it,” Schepps said.
Some students like Caroline Kenny, a 20 year old photography major, receive financial help from their parents but still pay for a couple of their own classes.
“I wouldn’t say it’s 50/50 but my parents pay for most of them and I pay out of pocket,” Kenny says.
Kenny feels like it depends on the circumstances to determine if a tuition increase is a good idea. Until recently she had not heard about the tuition increase at all.
“I was a little disappointed to not hear about it from the school and rather hear about it from other students,” says Kenny.
Hoora Manzoori, 40, is taking photo courses at Mercer in hopes of using photography as a side hustle. During Hoora’s first semester she registered late and was not given access to Adobe Creative Cloud despite paying full tuition, which covers camera equipment and software.
Manzoori says, “I didn’t get to use Lightroom (Adobe Software) for the whole semester and had to pay for it myself.”
She continues by saying, “people don’t want to pay that high. They go to Mercer for 2 years, or community college in general, to pay less.”
Dr. Deborah Preston, MCCC’s President, says the college has been looking at outside resources in order to help keep tuition affordable for low income students. She says the 4% tuition increase will still be covered in the Federal Pell Grant for students who rely on the grant to pay for their tuition and textbooks.
“I don’t want any student to not come to Mercer because they can’t afford it,” says Dr. Preston.
If the Federal Pell Grant isn’t enough, eligible students can apply for the Community College Opportunity Grant (CCOG), which covers all fees not already covered by federal and state financial aid or scholarships.
MCCC also has its own scholarships through The MCCC Foundation to support students who need extra money after the grants.
“We can help students pay, so I’m really hoping somehow that students are hearing that particular message,” says Dr. Preston.
In past years, MCCC has sent out an email informing students about the tuition hearing. However, the board opted out of sending an email this year and only faculty members were given a preview of the tuition plan prior to the board meeting.
Psychology Professor Heather Jennings made a statement on behalf of Mercer’s Faculty Association. The statement expressed dissatisfaction with the scheduling of the meeting and lack of communication with students.
“We understand that sometimes tuition needs to increase… We don’t appreciate the lack of transparency,” Jennings says. “So that was our big issue, that if it’s going to happen, we just need to be aware of it and make sure that all students have opportunities to speak and to just be fully informed.”
It also referenced the BOT meeting that occurred during the 2022 Spring Break, which students had not been informed of.
“Last year this was what we considered to be kind of slipped in during a time where students and faculty would not be present. We had an understanding last year that they would not do things like that again and make it a more transparent process for everybody,” Jennings says.
To learn more about available scholarships at MCCC, visit mccc.edu or stop by Room 112 in the West Windsor Campus Administration Building between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
