No tuition increase for second consecutive year

by Stephanie Perez, staff writer

                                                                

For the second consecutive semester, South Plain College students are enjoying another semester that tuition has stayed the same price.

At a time when the cost of college tuition is rising across the nation, it is relaxing to know that SPC is still an affordable place to continue your education. For 2006-2007, the average full-time SPC student will pay about $ 2,312 for two semesters which is, on average, for 30 hours. This makes starting a college career less than half the cost of a public university and about one-third the cost of a private university.

According to South Plains College President, Dr. Kelvin W. Sharp,  “South Plains College gets their money through tuition and fees, local school taxes from the residents of Hockley County and through state appropriations. The last two consecutive years, tuition was able to stay affordable because the money that was in the state appropriations was spent on the department’s needs.”

“Since the college took care of their departments, the departments took care of the school by giving back some of the department funds. By doing this, they were able to take care of the faculty and the students through pay raises and low tuition.”

 Dr. Sharp added that, “At this time, it is too early to tell if tuition will stay at the low rate that it is at. The state legislature will have to look at all three of the money sources and where the appropriations might go. They will not begin to meet until January of next year.”

 Two years at SPC will save a student enough money for the junior year at a public university. In addition, for students who plan to earn a bachelor’s degree, SPC offers a fully-transferable general education curriculum. This means that SPC students can transfer up to 66 semester hours to a major university in the region.

“The students at South Plains College are the first priority, and the faculty and departments are doing everything that they can to keep tuition low and encourage people to go to college. Since tuition hasn’t risen, right now is the perfect opportunity to start your academic career here at SPC.”