Austin Community College to set fall tuition in May This chart shows the cost of attending Austin Community College as a full-time student during the 2016-17 school year.[/caption] The Austin Community College board of trustees got its first look Monday at budget projections, including fall tuition rates, for the next fiscal year. Neil Vickers, executive vice president of finance and administration, said he does not project any increases in tuition for the fall semester. "You don’t see some kind of glaring issue where we see a big action in tuition," he said. This would be the fourth year in a row that in-district tuition and fees remain untouched. The board of trustees will set the college system's fall tuition rates at its meeting May 1. Before they can set tuition rates, trustees must vote on a policy change that, if approved, would effectively reduce out-of-district fees by $77 a credit hour. Projecting a 1 percent growth in student enrollment and a 3 percent raise for full-time faculty, Vickers said a balanced budget for FY 2017-18 is possible. The board of trustees will spend the next several months discussing the budget and will vote to adopt it in July. Vickers said he is projecting the following numbers for the next fiscal year:
  • $352.8 million in revenue—a 3 percent, or $10.4 million, increase from last fiscal year;
  • $352.3 million in expenses—a 7.5 percent, or $25.4 million, increase from last fiscal year;
  • a 7 percent increase in property tax revenue;
  • a 1 percent student enrollment growth; and
  • a 3 percent raise for full-time faculty, which requires a board vote.
"This is the starting point," Vickers told trustees. "There’s still a lot of question marks that will be resolved in the coming meetings."