In-District Tuition at Community Colleges

[sanantone]

I don't know how this works in other states, but in Texas, there are normally three tuition rates at community colleges: in-district, in-state, and out-of-state/international. The in-district tuition rate is the cheapest because community colleges get funding from state and local taxes. I found out when I moved to San Marcos that it is not considered in-district by any community college system. We are "serviced" by Austin Community College and even have a small campus here, but this city has opted not to pay taxes to ACC so that San Marcos residents can receive in-district tuition. I find this appalling. I believe that every county and city in the state should be fully serviced by a community college district. It would cost an in-district student at ACC a little over $3,000 to earn 30 credits in one school year. It would cost an out-of-district Texas resident over $8,600 for the same number of credits. That's the same cost as attending a university!

[smf6824]

I am attending a community college on the side to utilize my GI bill benefits accordingly. The college I am attending has 3 rates too, and that is in Pennsylvania. They have a county rate, state rate, and out of state rate. Since I am on the border with two other states they also offer a metro rate, but it is only a few dollars more than the state rate. It is kind of crazy though that the state rate is twice as much as the county rate, and naturally the out of state rate is even more. This is a community college for crying out loud, so I feel your frustration. Thankfully I have the county rate and I will hopefully be done with this community college and TESC in June.

[hightecrebel]

I don't know, I think it depends on the city/town to decide if it's worth it to them. Sure, there's a small campus in your town, but do they offer the full collection of courses? If not, maybe that's one of the reasons they don't support it. It also might be that the majority of residents & taxpayers don't see a positive benefit from providing support to a CC that might have little utilization by local residents.

[ajs1976]

years ago where I lived at the time did not have a community college but had an agreement with a neighboring county, so I was able to get the in county rate for any class at main campus, the satellite locations, or online. i moved after finishing one class to a different county with its own CC and was going to get hit with the out of county rate. ended up switching schools and having to start over.

[sanantone]

I don't know, I think it depends on the city/town to decide if it's worth it to them. Sure, there's a small campus in your town, but do they offer the full collection of courses? If not, maybe that's one of the reasons they don't support it. It also might be that the majority of residents & taxpayers don't see a positive benefit from providing support to a CC that might have little utilization by local residents.

The local campus does have a very small offering of courses, but I would think the options would be expanded as demand goes up with lower tuition rates. I know there are cities in the Alamo Community College District that do not have local campuses, but it's not a long commute to one of the campuses. There are also online courses that can be taken at both CC systems.

[cookderosa]

Illinois same way. In fact, I moved into a neighborhood that was the dividing line for "in district" and "in state" which I didn't know at the time. Of course, I was on the wrong side of the street lol. It was a big price jump if I remember.

Of course I couldn't just not know, so I went and looked it up. Current dollars- in district $120/cr. In state out of district $230 (wth??) Online in state $135, oos online $160.

[sanantone]

Luckily, not all CCs are as outrageous as ACC with their out-of-district rates. Central Texas College is just $2700 per year, which is lower than ACC's in-district rate. But, that doesn't really help those who need to attend ground programs and live far from CTC.

[cathgrl]

They are pretty much that way in Michigan. I grew up in a very rural area with no CC district. The CC most people attend charges $100/$200 in-/out district. The online offerings, as well as the courses offered at the satellite location, are abysmal. So you have to drive an hour each way to go to school on top of everything else. Those who don't take that route go to U of Penis online.

[Kintsukuroi]

At my current community college there are just two tuition rates. In resident is $128/cr and non resident is $300/cr. Both amount include the "extra" fees. I will be transferring to another community college for the clinical portion of my nursing degree and they have the three tuition rates but it's not as bad as your example. For in district it's $135.00/cr, for out of district it's $164.50/cr and for non resident it's $200.00/cr. So the tuition rates all over the place.

[sanantone]

Those who don't take that route go to U of Penis online.

:roflol: Don't they know there are other online options? University of Penis is so expensive.