Ocean County College officials have announced that tuition and fees for 2009-10 will not increase. The tuition rate will continue at $92 per credit and student fees will remain the same as last year. The college’s Board of Trustees voted to approve President Jon H. Larson’s zero-increase tuition recommendation.
According to a press release, the flat tuition rate is the result of prudent resource management and several cost-containment measures that were outlined by Larson at a meeting of the trustees.
Through administrative reorganization and consolidation of the administrative structures, position attrition, restrictions on new hiring and travel, and energy-saving programs, the budget-saving measures have assisted the college in ultimately passing savings along to its students.
Board of Trustees Chairman Carl V. Thulin said the administration’s careful attention to sound resource management and cost containment helped to wring expense from the budget and allows officials to continue providing high-quality education without increasing tuition or fees at this time.
Larson said that with the economy in crisis, it is the administrators’ responsibility to maximize cost effectiveness and do everything possible to make college attendance affordable for Ocean County citizens, while continuing the school’s commitment to excellence.
According to Larson, cost-containment measures will include very frugal control over discretionary expenses like travel, subscriptions and non-essential line items. Outsourcing of services will also be considered in appropriate situations where savings can be realized. While some new positions will be necessary due to the unprecedented increases in enrollment the college is experiencing, the college will attempt to hire internal candidates and, whenever possible, leave positions vacant through the normal course of attrition.
The college will also aggressively seek private funding for start-up programs and use grant funds wherever possible. Administrators are looking to make full use of financial resources from public funding available for economic stimulus to the nation’s and state’s economy, including the addition of campuswide use of photovoltaic solar panels and construction of a combined heat and power plant that will allow the college to generate its own electric power, according to a press release.
Thulin said administrators will continue to monitor expenses in order to most minimally impact educational costs to students. Financial assistance remains available for eligible students through the Financial Aid office and the OCC Foundation.