Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees Monday adopted the tuition and fee schedule to be effective for the 2013 fall semester. Changes include a $5.25 per contact hour increase for in-district students, a $6.75 increase for out-of-district students, a $7.25 increase for out-of-state students and a $10 increase for international students. The new contact hour rates represent a 5-percent increase and will be as follows: In-District $109.50 (up from $104.25); In-State $141.50 (up from $134.75); Out-of-State $154 (up from $146.75); and International $198 (up from $188). Additionally, trustees approved a $1 per hour increase in the college’s registration fee (up from $15.75) and a $1 increase in the technology fee (up from $24).

According to college President Dr. David Mathews, “The college administration has worked hard to offset the effect of double-digit health insurance cost increases and double-digit state-mandated retirement program cost increases. As incredible as it seems, mandatory cost increases to the state-run retirement plan have increased by 63 percent over the last five years. Although the Legislature took action last year to slow this rate of increase, the college is still dealing with this exorbitant mandated cost increase.”

“Because of cost containment in other areas, and strategic reallocation of resources, next year, a student from SMC’s district will still be able to attend for less than half the cost of Western Michigan University, less than a third of those at Michigan State University and about a quarter of the cost of the University of Michigan,” Mathews said. “The low tuition and fee increases approved this evening will insure that SMC remains affordable, and also that the college has sufficient resources to maintain the very highest quality academic programs, support services and technology-rich learning environments.”