EACC only college in state to decrease tuition for students

East Arkansas Community College is the only institution of higher education in the state to report a decrease in tuition and mandatory fees for the 2021-22 academic year, according to figures released by the Arkansas Division of Higher Education.

The college’s annualized tuition and fees for in-district students declined from $2,934 in 2020-21 to $2,840 for 2021-22, a decrease of $94 or -3.2%.

In-state students who do not live in the district saw their fulltime tuition and mandatory fees decline from $3,234 in 2020-21 to $3,140 in 2021-22, a decrease of $94 or -2.90%. Out-of-state annualized tuition and fees fell from $3,804 to $3,740, a decrease of $64 or -1.7%.

“We listened to our students,” explained Dr. Cathie Cline, president of EACC. “Covid brought to the forefront their concerns about online students paying a building use fee, so we removed the building use fee from online classes, and now only charge it for on-campus classes. This became a local and national issue during the spring of 2020. We met our students’ concerns.”

EACC is one of only three public institutions of higher education in Arkansas to cap tuition and fees at 15 credit hours a semester, meaning any classes a student takes over 15 hours carry no additional tuition and fees.

“We feel it is important to encourage students to take more than 15 credit hours a semester. Research shows that doing so helps students graduate on time. Our students enjoy their ‘free’ classes and utilize them strategically to accelerate their completion goals,” said Cline.

The average annualized instate full-time tuition and mandatory fees for two-year colleges rose from $3,957 in 202021 to $3,984 this year, an increase of .68%. The average annualized in-state full-time tuition and fees for undergraduate students on the campuses of four-year institutions of higher education rose from $8,970 in 2020-21 to $9,197 this year, an increase of 2.52%. The highest undergraduate in-state tuition rate was $11,882 for undergraduate programs at the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. The lowest was $2,930 at Arkansas Northeastern College in Blytheville.

Other area in-state annualized tuition and fees include Phillips County Community College of the University of Arkansas in Helena ($3,410); Arkansas State University Mid-South in West Memphis ($4,090); Arkansas State University Newport ($3,570) and Arkansas State University Jonesboro ($8,900).

ADHE calculates full-time annualized tuition and mandatory fees based on a student taking 15 credit hours per fall and spring semesters for a total of 30 credit hours. Mandatory fees are those fees assessed of all full-time undergraduate students. For example, fees charged only to students in music, labs, or other fees unique to a given situation such as late registration and parking decals are not reported as mandatory fees. The cost of housing and meals is also not included in tuition and mandatory fees.