Although Sinclair Community College has the lowest tuition in the state of Ohio, it is set to rise starting this summer semester.
The increase will rise up to about $3.33 more per credit hour, or $95.70 per full time student, per academic year for Montgomery county students.
For out-of-county students, the tuition increase will equal out to $142.40 per academic year, and $274.40 for out-of-state and international students annually.
“Sinclair has historically resisted raising tuition, it’s not…a decision that we take lightly and we understand all that goes into it, but in order to maintain educational quality, we have to ensure that we have proper resources here to do that,” Adam Murka, director of Public Relations said.
Funding for Sinclair comes from three major sources, which are State Share of Instruction, levy support and tuition.
SSI comes from the state and the levy support comes from Montgomery county property taxes, which is why Montgomery county students pay less than out of county students.
However, SSI and levy support funding are decreasing; therefore, tuition must go up.
But even with a tuition raise, Montgomery county students will still pay the lowest tuition rates in the state of Ohio.
“In order to maintain quality, our board and administration made that decision,” he said.
Murka said it is a decision that is taken seriously.
“We are committed, fully, to being an open access institution, and we want to balance that need with the ability to provide for everybody that goes here with the quality education that means something in the work force — and to do that is a great responsibility. We take it seriously,” he said.