Taking a page out of the government’s playbook to separate you from your money, it looks like CNM is being more than a little disingenuous here:
The good news: Most students at Central New Mexico Community College won’t pay more for tuition during the upcoming academic year.
The bad news: They’ll begin paying a $3-per-credit-hour technology fee, raising the cost of attending the state’s largest community college by $36 a semester for a student taking 12 credit hours.
CNM’s governing board approved the new tuition and fee rates Tuesday.
The board also approved a $187 million budget for the college, which enrolls close to 25,000 students.
Because of statewide budget cuts, the budget the governing board approved includes no salary increases.
According to a CNM news release, this is the third year the school’s governing board has not increased in-district tuition, which is $41 per credit hour.
It’s that last line that really gets my goat. No matter how you slice it, “a $3-per-credit-hour technology fee” increase is a 7% increase in tuition. I’m not quite sure who the governing board at CNM think they’re kidding, but it is wrong for them to pretend that they are not increasing tuition costs (i.e. the cost to attend) when they absolutely are.
Happy Tax Day!