On March 20, the Grand Rapids Community College Board of Trustees voted to approve a 1.7 percent tuition increase for the 2023-2024 school year.
Lisa Freiburger, GRCC’s Vice President for Finance presented this increase to the board saying, “We are recommending a 1.7 percent tuition increase that, for our resident student, would move our current rate of $118 per contact hour to a proposed rate of $120 per contact hour, a $2 increase… moving our non-resident up $4 which is a 1.6 percent increase and our out of state rate up $6.”
The motion was approved after which Board Member Kenyatta Brame gave a statement praising the low cost increase.
“College is becoming unaffordable to many individuals, particularly the four year schools… The fact that this organization was able to do that hard work and keep these increases to low, single digit increases is significant,” said Brame.
According to the data tracked by GRCC, resident tuition has gone up by $7 per contact hour since the 2016-2017 school year. Non-resident tuition has increased by $11 per contact hour and out-of-state tuition has increased by $21.
In this context, a contact hour means an hour of scheduled class time and is the same as a credit. While these increases may seem low, they can sometimes add up and contribute to a steeper tuition cost, especially for full-time students who take more than 12 credits per semester. A non-resident taking 12 credits would have paid $3,708 per semester during the 2016-2017 school year whereas a non-resident student taking 12 credits in the 2023-2024 school year will be paying $3,948 per semester for tuition and this number does not include the rising prices of books, housing and transportation.
Even with the price increase, GRCC’s tuition is still lower than many other community colleges in the state. Bay College in Escanaba, Michigan has a 2022-2023 resident tuition cost of $144 per credit and in-state tuition cost of $247. Mid Michigan College in Clare County, Michigan has a 2022-2023 tuition of $142 per credit hour for residents and $237 dollars per credit hour for non-resident students.
The tuition approval also came with an increased cost of early childhood programs at GRCC. For infant programs, the cost increased from $269 to $284 per week. For toddler programs, it increased from $263 to $278 per week and for preschool, the price increased from $217 to 227 per week.
Regarding this bump in cost, Freiburger said, “Those percentage increases were done in collaboration with our early childhood team and their review of the market in Kent County, again keeping the rates that we charge on the lower end of that scale, recognizing that we want to be accessible.”
