Oregon community colleges will take another hit next fiscal year, according to the Ways and Means Committee co-chairs budget report on May 18. The Community College Support Fund, from which LCC gets a majority of its funding, is being reduced from $500 million in the current biennium to $423 million in 2010.
LCC students may soon have to react to a tuition surcharge and technology fee increase, two of the college's latest attempts to mitigate the effects of declining state funding for community colleges. The LCC Budget Committee approved a proposal of a $3 tuition surcharge and $2 increase in the technology fee on May 27, but these figures have yet to be approved by the Board of Education.
Measure 2, one of five ballot measures passed by students during the elections in early May, will increase the student activity fee by $4, per student, per term. It will be reaffirmed by student vote every two years beginning 2011. The raised fee will increase the current recreational sport opportunities for students and their families.
For students nervous about paying for college in the sinking economy who may not qualify for Pell Grants or other financial aid options, the new American Opportunity Tax Credit may provide relief. The AOTC is the replacement and expansion of the Hope Scholarship.