EPCC, TTUHSCEP boards OK increases to fees, tuition
Some students who attend El Paso Community College and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso will need to pay more for their tuition and fees as early as this summer. EPCC’s Board of Trustees and the TTU System Board of Regents approved increases during their respective meetings Feb. 29.
At EPCC, trustees voted to raise the price of parking on campus as well as increases to 34 Continuing Education courses including 17 in Allied Health.
An annual parking permit will jump from $40 to $60, and a semester pass will go from $30 to $40. The prices also will increase for staff and faculty from $40 to $70 for an annual permit, and from $30 to $50 for a semester pass.
In a response to a board question, Carlos Amaya, vice president of Student & Enrollment Services, said the requested increase – the first since 2018 – was needed to address a “significant decrease in revenue” from parking permits since the pandemic.
Amaya said income from permit sales go toward support staff, parking lot maintenance, vehicle purchases, and to help keep the campuses safe and secure.
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“We are increasing (parking fees) to keep up with those challenges,” said Amaya, who added that financial aid such as Pell Grants could be used to pay parking fees.
The tuition for the Workforce and Continuing Education courses range from as little as $7 for Pharmacy Drug Therapy and Treatment to as much as $135 for Nursing Assistant or Nursing Assistant Clinical. In some cases, the price of the courses had not changed since 2013. The additional tuition would go toward higher instructional costs, miscellaneous fees or to match the amount for a credit course.
Blayne Primozich, associate vice president of EPCC’s Workforce & Continuing Education, said that some of the larger tuition increases were requested in preparation for House Bill 8 and to make Continuing Education credits transferable to credit courses. He said CE tuition must match credit tuition if a student requests transferable course credit.
HB 8 is the outcomes-based funding model for community colleges that the Texas Legislature passed in 2023. It will reward colleges for the number of degrees, certificates and “credentials of value” that it awards. Its goal is to create a growing, diverse and competitive workforce.
The TTU System regents approved changes to tuition and fees for the next three fiscal years beginning with Fiscal Year 2025, which starts Sept. 1. The tuition increases over the three years range from $22 at the School of Nursing to $2,647 at the School of Dental Medicine.
Most of the fee increases are a few dollars with a few up to $150. The biggest one listed is the educational tech fee in the School of Dental Medicine that will jump from $7,289.20 to $10,205 this fall and then $10,613 in Fiscal Year 2027.
During his presentation to the board, James Mauldin, vice chancellor and chief financial officer, said that the new tuition rate aligned with the Higher Education Price Index, and that the Board of Regents had not reviewed tuition and fee increases at health-related institutions since 2019.
Tedd L. Mitchell, TTU System chancellor, added that the tuition and fees charged by the system’s health-related institutions make up a small percentage – usually single digits – of their overall budgets with the bulk coming from state funding.
“The cost that they charge is exceptionally low relative to medical schools across the country,” Mitchell said.
Despite the approval of the changes, institution presidents may establish waivers and exemptions for the fees.
The University of Texas at El Paso announced in 2023 that it would not increase tuition or mandatory fees through the 2024-25 academic year. The last time UTEP raised its tuition was for the 2021-22 school year.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Community College, TTUHSCEP boards OK increases to fees, tuition
