ACC Tuition Increases

Once again daily costs keep increasing but our income stays the same.

Austin Community College, and 49 other community college districts in Texas, gets most of its funding from state appropriations, local property taxes, and students' tuition and fee payments. ACC officials said property tax revenue and state appropriations are expected to decline in the budget year beginning in September. So they have decided to raise our tuition.

Austin Community College students who live within its taxing district will pay $9 more for a typical three-credit class starting this fall. Tuition is also going up for students who live outside the taxing district but within the state. Such students will pay $13 more per credit, meaning that a typical course will cost $498 — 8.5 percent more than the current charge of $459.

The raise is not a big increase but a little bit here and there could prevent some students from going to college because they cant afford it. This is also an unfair raise for the people who live in the taxing district because they are already paying for the taxes that should be going to the school.

One other thing being done is having petitions signed by Hays school district residents who want to have an election on joining the college's taxing territory. This will mean more taxpayers money coming in.