Atlantic Cape Approves Budget, Raises Tuition

Students at Atlantic Cape Community College will see a 5.9 percent increase in tuition beginning in the summer of 2013, the college’s Board of Trustees announced while approving its revenue budget at the Cape May County campus on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

The college is raising tuition to $108 a credit, up $6 from $102. Culinary arts and online tuition is also projected to go up 5.9 percent.

The budget adopted by the Board of Trustees is for $41,285,000. This is down from last year’s fiscal plan, according to college officials, and includes a $160,542 fund balance transfer. It projects a 3 percent decline in credit enrollments due to changing demographics in the college’s service district, college officials said.

The budget is contingent on $8,572,942 in county appropriations that will be voted on at an upcoming meeting of the Board of School Estimate, according to college officials. The Board of School Estimate is a group composed of college and Atlantic and Cape May County officials.

According to college officials, the state will contribute a projected $6.1 million, and support from the counties increased .2 percent for the college’s fiscal year and state-operating aid is projected to remain the same.

Mandatory fees (general, information services, activity and facilities) will increase an average of 5.9 percent, bringing the total per credit cost to $131.85 from $124.50 last year, college officials said. A student at Atlantic Cape typically takes 24 credits a year, according to college officials. These students will see an annual increase of $176.40, for a total of $3,164.40, up from $2,988 last year.

According to Atlantic Cape Treasurer Robert Boyer, the new tuition and fee schedule gives the college the necessary revenue to meet its budgetary requirements while remaining in the lower third for tuition price within community colleges in the state.