The College of New Caledonia's board of governors will consider approving a two per cent increase to tuition rates and mandatory student fees on Friday.
The increase, if approved, would come into effect for courses starting on Aug. 1, 2018 or later. Provincial legislation restricts post-secondary tuition increases to the rate of inflation, as determined by the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training.
The ministry is expected to set the inflation rate for 2018-19 at two per cent, CNC vice president Tara Szerencsi wrote in her report to the board.
CNC is expected to generate an additional $120,000 in revenue, based on the increase.
"In 2001, the college board adopted a principle that CNC would position itself to be at the average tuition fee rate for a two-year B.C. colleges," Szerencsi wrote. "At this time, CNC tuition is still well below the average, and assuming other colleges also raise their fees by the approved rate, CNC will continue to have some of the lowest tuition fees in the province."
According to the college's 2017-18 fee schedule, tuition and fees can vary significantly between programs, however the current tuition for a single university transfer course is $266.85, and the combined tuition and fees for a semester can range from less than $2,000 to more than $6,000, depending on the program.
In 2016-17, CNC had a total of 7,876 students at six campuses in the region.
According to the college's budget documents, tuition for regular and special programs totaled just less than $4.1 million of the college's $28.2 million total revenue for 2017-18, as of Oct. 31.
