Palm Beach State College students will not pay a penny more for their tuition and course fees next school year.
The PBSC Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to freeze the cost of classes for all degree and certificate programs for the 2016-17 academic year. For college credit courses, in-state tuition and fees will remain at $101 (including $76.92 for tuition) per credit hour, or $303 for a three-credit-hour course. Tuition and fees for postsecondary adult vocational program courses are fixed at $83.40 per credit hour and $2.78 per contact hour. The cost of bachelor’s degree courses, which is regulated by the Florida Legislature, remain at $122.85 per credit hour or $368.55 for a three-credit-hour class.
This marks the fifth consecutive year in which tuition has not increased at PBSC, although technology and capital improvement fees rose slightly twice, and the student activity fee rose once during that timeframe. To compare, in 2012-13, students paid $98.25 per credit hour or $294.75 for a three-credit-hour course.
Tuition and fees were part of the $126.7 million 2016-17 general fund budget approved by trustees, which includes a 6.1 percent increase in state appropriations. The college received $61,814,175 this year, compared to $58,239,334 last year.
“We’re very happy that the state funded us at a level this year that allowed us to keep our tuition flat for a fifth year in a row,’’ said Richard Becker, vice president of administration and business services. “As we look into the future, we will continue to do what we can to keep tuition as low as possible.”
