Trustees OK tuition increase

Hike expected to net $110K

Texarkana College’s board of trustees approved a tuition increase for the 2018-19 school year.

Tuition will increase by $2 per credit hour for in-district and out-of-district students, with a $3 increase increase for non-resident tuition.

At the board’s regular meeting Monday, finance Director Kim Jones said TC is right at the state average for tuition costs and mandatory fees.

“It’s a slight increase and it keeps us in line with what

other schools are doing,” she said.

The increase is expected to bring around $110,000 to the college.

In other business, the board approved an update to several policies, as required by the Texas Association of School Boards. One of the mandates requires community colleges to have a place on their website where personnel and students can anonymously report sexual violence. If an event is proven to have occurred, schools must also provide counseling to the victims.

Another part of the update requires colleges to have a link on their website about the availability of open-source textbooks for all courses to give students options other than traditional textbooks.

The update also address mental health programs, requiring schools to post available mental health resources on a dedicated web page.

Phyllis Deese, vice president of administrative services, said TC was in compliance with all the requirements.

In other business, Katie Landrus, executive director of the TC Foundation, gave a report on the status of the nonprofit organization. They have a goal of growing the TC Alumni and Friends group to 1,000 members by 2018 and reaching $10 million in assets by 2020. She said they have not reached the $10 million goal as those assets, which are used to fund presidential scholarships, are at $7,665,901. The board also approved the 2018-19 calendar, which has a fall semester start date of Aug. 20 and spring break from March 11 to 15.