Maricopa County Colleges governing board considering lowering tuition

PHOENIX — Tuition for Maricopa Community College students might be a lot less expensive for the fall and spring semesters.

The Maricopa County Community College District’s governing board is considering lowering tuition by 50% in the fall semester and 25% in the spring semester. It’s a way to help students struggling financially due to the coronavirus pandemic but also to address declining enrollment numbers.

At its work session last Tuesday, the board discussed the proposal and its potential impact. The estimated cost to the district would be $24.9 million for a 50% reduction in tuition for the fall semester and $14.9 million for a 25% reduction in tuition for the spring semester.

There were mixed feelings among governing board members about the proposal.

Board member Linda Thor said she worried it would lead to a significant decrease in revenue, and they would have to tap into the $70 million the district has in unrestricted funds.

“I just want to be really sure that we’re being smart about this,” she said.

Thor added that she heard from people on social media who expressed concerns about the proposal. She said one person said students might get the perception that tuition is being doubled once the cost goes back up, which she said “may affect our retention down the road.”

“It was these kinds of comments that made me stop and say, ‘Is this the best way to support our students at this time?’” she said.

Meanwhile, board member Dana Saar said lowering tuition would help break down economic barriers some students are facing right now due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I really do think that our students are struggling financially,” he said, adding that older students are likely struggling the most “to keep their mortgages paid, or their rent paid, and to put food on the table for their families.”

Saar said the average student attending Maricopa Community Colleges is 26 or 27 years old.

“That means for every 18-year-old, there’s a 35-year-old,” he said. “So we have to start thinking about those specific students that we want to bring into our institution, and I really think that financial barriers are important.”

Board member Kathleen Winn agreed there is a need for lowering tuition, saying students who maybe could afford tuition several months ago can’t anymore because they lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The government just sent out billions of dollars to people in our country because the country as a whole has been destabilized, and we are trying to enroll people into college at a time where we haven’t quite righted the ship,” she said.

Several board members also weighed the possibility of offering financial aid to students directly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, instead of lowering tuition for everyone. This comes as the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation has received a 55% increase in applications from students needing scholarships.

Marie Sullivan, president of the board, said she supports lowering tuition and helping students pay for other costs, including housing and textbooks, as well as spending more money to market programs offered at the Maricopa Community Colleges that lead to immediate jobs for students.

“There are people who need work now and who need their certificates to get to work now,” Sullivan said. “Those may be the people that are the most in need.”

The governing board is expected to make a decision at its 4 p.m. meeting on Tuesday.

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