Rowan College at Burlington County will freeze tuition for the upcoming academic year while planning a larger return to campus for fall 2021.
“After a year of turmoil that has stressed many families’ financial situation, Rowan College at Burlington County made it a priority to hold the line on the costs of high-quality education,” RCBC President Dr. Michael A. Cioce said in a prepared statement. “Recent trends with vaccination and COVID rates provide optimism that we have turned a corner and can bring more students and staff back to campus this fall.”
Burlington County Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson commended the college for freezing on tuition, which was made possible by the Burlington County Board of Commissioners’ commitment to preserving the county’s investment in higher education, according to the statement.
“Ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality education is an important priority for the Burlington County Board of Commissioners and a critical part of the county’s response to the COVID pandemic,” Hopson said in the statement. “We share the college’s goal of keeping costs for students stable during a very challenging time and look forward to continued progress against COVID and hope to see more students on campus soon.”
The Fiscal Year 2022 budget, approved this week by the RCBC Board of Trustees, and scheduled for approval by the Burlington County Board of School Estimate on March 18, is $43.9 million. The budget is down 1% from the current year and 6.8% from fiscal year 2020, according to the statement.
The college also received an independent audit report that contained no issues of concern for its fiscal year 2020 budget, according to the statement.
The college’s fall schedule, finalized this week, calls for 50% of classes to be on campus, which is up from about 15% for the past two semesters.
“Many students, faculty and administrators are eager to return to campus in a greater capacity with the safety protocols that have protected the RCBC community against any COVID spread over the past year,” Cioce said in the statement. “Although this represents a large expansion of on-campus seats, they are still limited so students should register as soon as possible if they want to be on-campus in the fall.”
The college’s COVID-19 task force has been meeting regularly to plan a safe expansion of on-campus activity for students and staff. Current protocols can be found at rcbc.edu/reopening
RCBC continues to support ways to reduce costs for students, such as pursuing open access course materials that will replace the high costs of textbooks, the state’s new free community college law (Community College Opportunity Grant) and the state’s first 3+1 program, which provides the most affordable pathway to a Rowan University bachelor’s degree, according to the statement.