New fees and caps on tuition

The Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees approved an increase to nonresident tuition at its regular meeting on Jan. 22.

Under the new resolution, nonresident students would be assessed a tuition fee of $213 per unit, up $23 from the previous fee of $190. In addition, the board approved a six-dollar per unit Nonresident Capital Outlay Fee as allowed by Education Code 76141.

In total, the new fees for nonresident students will increase by $29 a unit. For a full-time student with 12 units, that means an additional cost of $348 per semester. Full-time students charged at the nonresident rate are now looking at the possibility of fees well above $3,000 a semester, before the cost of books and supplies.

The fee increase comes less than a week after the Vice Chancellor of Finance Ron Gerhard announced a proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown that would require in-state students to pay the out-of-state rate after reaching a 90-unit cap.

In statements given by Gerhard Jan. 17 at the district’s State of the Budget address, and reiterated at the board meeting on Jan. 22, the governor’s proposal would create a “90-semester unit cap on the number of units a student could take, and for which the district could receive state funding.

“Students who exceed this cap would be required to pay the full cost of tuition.”

Some students may face problems registering in general in 2014. The passage of State Bill 1456 by Governor Brown last September will give priority registration to veterans, active military, disabled students, foster youth and students with stated academic or vocational goals and who have fewer than 100 units. The latter provision could push out many older students, or those simply trying to find their career path.

In other news from the Jan. 22 meeting, the Peralta Colleges Foundation, a non-profit auxiliary to the district that provides scholarships to students and grants to faculty, announced the receipt of a $250,000 donation from an anonymous donor at the San Francisco Foundation.

According to foundation executive director Romeo Garcia, the funds will be used “to pay for operations and staffing, so that we can be at full capacity to raise more money for scholarships and support more programs throughout the district.”