CCAC board approves 2 percent tuition increase for next school year

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tuition for students at the Community College of Allegheny County will increase 2 percent next school year as part of a $113.8 million budget the school’s trustees approved Thursday.

Board treasurer James Flynn Jr. said tuition will go to $110 per credit hour from the current $107.75. Out-of-county students will see their tuition raised to $220 per credit hour, and out-of-state students will pay $330.

Before voting on the tuition portion of the budget, board member Jay Costa, a Democratic state senator from Forest Hills, asked whether CCAC would remain in the bottom tuition tier in comparison to other community colleges in Pennsylvania with the increase.

“Yes, we’re in the lower four of community colleges in the commonwealth,” Mr. Flynn said, adding that CCAC tuition had increased on average 2.5 percent during the past five years, meaning the current increase is slightly below average.

The 2017-18 budget is 0.4 of a percent larger than last year’s and includes $109.5 million for operating expenditures, $1.2 million for strategic programming initiatives, $250,000 for facilities and maintenance, and nearly $2 million for internet technology infrastructure and security projects.

“In these tough times, I think the college administration, the college president and all of the staff is doing a nice job to keep the costs and the budgets down,” Mr. Flynn said.

The board also approved a $25 million capital outlay plan — a $90,000 increase from last year — that includes a $1 million computer replacement project, more than $3 million in electrical power upgrades, more than $200,000 in a