NWACC raising tuition this year

Increase is first since 2013; some student fees will see increase, too

BENTONVILLE — Northwest Arkansas Community College will raise tuition rates in the next academic year for the first time since 2013.

Several student fees are on the rise as well.

The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the tuition and fee increases during their meeting Monday.

The college’s in-district students — those who live within the Bentonville and Rogers school districts, which together make up the college’s taxing district — will see tuition increase from $75 to $79 per credit hour, a 5.3% increase.

Out-of-district tuition will rise from $135 to $145, out-ofstate tuition will go up from $150 to $164, and international student tuition will increase from $195 to $215 per credit hour.

About 45.5% of the college’s students last fall semester counted as in-district and 48.1% were out-of-district, according to college documents.

Al Massri, vice president of finance and administration, said revenue increases are necessary because of several different challenges to the college’s budget.

The number of credit hours being taken in a semester has declined sharply since the pandemic began, from 150,617 to 123,510, according to college data.

In addition, inflation has taken a bite out of the college’s spending power. The cumulative rate of inflation since 2013, the last time the college instituted a tuition increase, is 16.75%, Massri said.

Increased costs in professional and technical programs, along with facility construction and maintenance costs, are straining the budget, Massri said. The college also is struggling to attract and retain qualified applicants for various positions because of a tight labor market in the region, he said.

Northwest Arkansas Community College is the only institution of higher education in Arkansas that has not raised tuition in the past nine years, according to college President Evelyn Jorgenson.

“We’ve been very frugal,” Jorgenson said. “But even being very frugal, at some point, you do have to step up to the next level, and that’s the point we’re at now.”

The college has raised fees at various times over the years. This year, eight different fees are set to increase, though some apply only to certain students.

All students pay a technology fee of $12.25 and a health and safety fee of $3 per credit hour. Those fees will increase to $15 and $5, respectively, in the 2022-23 school year.

Other fees are program-specific. The culinary program lab fee, for example, is increasing from $295 to $325 per course, a 10.2% increase.

Based on a projection of 121,000 credit hours taken next school year, the college is estimating the increased tuition and fees will result in an additional $924,750 in revenue, Massri said.

The college is the largest two-year college in the state. The school reported an enrollment of 6,402 students as of the 11th day of classes this semester.

PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH

In other news, the college’s national search for its next president has come down to three finalists, including one internal candidate.

Jorgenson, 70, is retiring this summer.

The finalists include Ricky Tompkins, vice president of learning/chief academic officer at Northwest Arkansas Community College; Dennis Rittle, president of Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kan.; and Wade Derden, vice president for academic affairs at National Park College in Hot Springs, according to Ron Branscum, a Board of Trustees member and president selection committee chairman.

Derden has served in his current position since 2015, according to his resume. He previously was chairman of the social sciences division for four years at National Park College, and before that was a history and political science instructor at Pulaski Technical College for eight years. Derden earned a doctorate in public policy from the University of Arkansas in 2011.

Rittle has been Cowley College’s president since 2015, according to his resume. Cowley College, located in south-central Kansas, had 3,762 students as of the 2019-20 school year, according to the school’s website.

Rittle previously served three years as provost and executive vice president of learning at Ozarka College in Melbourne, Ark. He received his doctorate in organizational leadership from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., in 2009.

Tompkins has served in various administrative roles with the college since 2006, starting as director of its Institute for Corporate and Public Safety, according to his resume. He earned his doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2005.

From March 29-31, each of the finalists individually will spend a day on campus, Branscum said. They will participate in public forums, interview with the board and have dinner with the board. The board likely will choose a president in early April, he said.

Fifty-three people applied for the president’s job, Branscum said.

A salary range for the position has not been advertised. Jorgenson, the college’s third president, is earning $205,000 this school year, said Grant Hodges, a college spokesman.

Source: Northwest Arkansas Community College