Tuition hikes approved for Nebraska state colleges

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska State College System Board of Trustees last week approved tuition increases for the 2017-18 school year.
Tuition will increase $12 per credit hour, bringing undergraduate resident rates to $172 per credit hour at each college.
The Nebraska State College System initially requested $54.9 million in state support to cover core needs, including increased cost of salaries, health insurance, utilities and other operating expenses and mandatory compliance obligations for 2017-2019. The final amount of state funding approved was $52.1 million, leaving a gap of about $2.8 million.  This gap required NSCS to make internal budget cuts and increase tuition, according to a press release from the board.

With these budget challenges, the Nebraska State College System had to find a way to cover each college’s core needs without severely impacting students. Internal budget reviews at Chadron State, Peru State and Wayne State were conducted to attempt to make adjustments to operating expenses and costs.  During the review process, each college emphasized the importance of maintaining high-quality programs and student services.
“The board has worked diligently the past several months to analyze the impact of these economic challenges to the Nebraska State College System,” said Gary Bieganski, chair of the NSCS trustees. “We based our decisions on minimizing the impact of budget cuts on students and keeping educational programs in place that provide significant value to Nebraska. This tuition increase ensures that our institutions will continue to serve as centers of academic excellence at a cost that is realistic for students.”
Stan Carpenter, chancellor of the Nebraska State College System, agreed.
“We recognize the challenging financial situation that Nebraska currently faces,” Carpenter said. “State funding allows the Nebraska State College System to continue to provide high-quality education to the citizens of Nebraska and we are grateful for the
continued support.”