NASHVILLE - Tuition and fee costs for attending Tennessee community colleges and colleges of applied technology will rise an average 2.45 percent in the 2019-2020 academic year following state Board of Regents' approval of the increases on Friday.
In other action, regents approved their wish list of proposed five new building projects across the system. Coming in at No. 2 for recommended funding is a proposed $21.9 million advanced manufacturing building at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Chattanooga.
While getting to the No. 2 spot is a major development for the proposal, there are additional steps and potentially several years to go before getting included in a future Tennessee government capital budget.
The Chattanooga project and the four other building proposals will first have to be reviewed and ranked in the fall by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission along with competing proposals from the University of Tennessee system and the five independent state universities.
And THEC's process also includes factoring in higher education's major maintenance projects -- TBR just proposed $43.7 million. THEC will ultimately make its capital outlay recommendations to state budget officials for consideration Gov. Bill Lee's proposed 2020-2021 budget. And that has to go before the General Assembly for final action.
TBR officials, meanwhile, say this fall's tuition and fee increases represents the lowest percentage hike for full-time Tennessee residents since 1991 for the state's 13 two-year community colleges and since 2013 at the 27 Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCATs).
It's the third consecutive year where combined tuition and fee increases have been held to less than 3 percent.
For Chattanooga State, students will pay an additional $109 for tuition and fees, raising the total to $4568 annually, a 2.44 percent increase.
At Cleveland State, tuition and fees also increase by $109 with the new total at $4,548 or a 2.46 percent increase.
Tuition and fees for the TCATs are $3,937 a – a $94 increase. But a number of students already attend free of tuition and mandatory fees through the the state lottery-funded Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect programs and other state and federal financial assistance.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.