GCC raises tuition by $75 per semester

File photo by Tom Rivers – Genesee Community College’s main campus is pictured here in Batavia.

BATAVIA – Genesee Community College will raise tuition by $75 per semester as part of a $38.70 million budget approved last week by the college’s Board of Trustees.

Full-time college students would see their tuition rise from $1,850 per semester to $1,925. Tuition for part-time students will increase by $5 per credit hour, from $150 to $155. The college’s technology fee also will increase from $25 to $50 per semester for full-time students, and a new Academic Support Fee will be $25 per semester for full-time students.

Both fees help the College maintain the quality of academic technology and instructional support services to students, said President James Sunser. The majority of Genesee students will see the increases covered by their financial assistance packages, and Genesee remains one of the most affordable colleges in the SUNY system, Sunser said.

GCC operates campus centers in Albion and Medina, as well as the main campus in Batavia and centers in Wyoming and Livingston counties.

The college’s budget maintains staffing at current levels and provides for anticipated increases in the cost of heating and lighting, other building-related costs, and contractually obligated salary and wage increases.

The budget also assumes New York State “base aid” at $2,497 per full-time-equivalent student. While the New York State Legislature and Governor approved this figure for 2014-2015, it is almost 7 percent less than the $2,675 GCC received five years ago.

The college is asking Genesee County, the host county, to increase its sponsorship support by $500,000 to $2.53 million. Sunser said that there is increased interest throughout the SUNY system in creating “regional” community colleges instead of locally-sponsored colleges, and that increasing sponsor support may help preserve local sponsorship as well as saving Genesee County money over the long term.

“We are committed to maintaining our position as one of the nation’s great community colleges, but we face declining state support, increased inflation, and a tighter regulatory environment,” Sunser said. “Putting together a budget that combines programmatic excellence, fiscal conservatism, and affordability for students is indeed a challenge.”