FDTC to raise tuition this fall

The Florence-Darlington County Commission for Technical Education met May 17 and voted to raise tuition at Florence-Darlington Technical College.

The Florence-Darlington County Commission for Technical Education met May 17 and voted to raise tuition at Florence-Darlington Technical College. Each credit hour at Tech currently costs $171; effective this fall, that rate will increase to $179 per credit hour.

Douglas Lange, FDTC Vice President of Business Affairs, told commissioners that the Higher Education Price Index has increased by 3.7 percent this year. In order to keep pace with the index, Lange presented the commission with a few different options to consider.

Lange said that a hike of 3.5 percent would mean a $6 increase per credit hour; a 4.1 percent hike raises rates by $7 per credit hour, and a 4.7 percent rise would increase rates by $8 per credit hour. He noted that Tech’s tuition increase last year was about 1 percent below the increases levied within their college cohort.

Making that 4.1 percent increase effective this fall would generate about $824,000 in additional revenue this school year. Delaying the tuition hike until spring would require an even steeper and more sudden increase of $9 or $10 per credit hour.

Lange said this increase “is about paying the higher salaries that we are already paying. This is about paying additional pension costs, and making sure that we have adequate supplies to do the instruction in classrooms… this is reflective of our costs.”

Commission member Joseph Griffin asked if Tech was still “heavy, administratively,” and Interim FDTC president Ed Bethea replied that two of Tech’s highest paid administrators have recently left the college or retired. Bethea said he has cut costs by reducing the school from three to two academic divisions, which removed one Associate Vice President position entirely.

Also, Lange pointed out that raising tuition this late in the year will likely cause problems for students who have already registered for fall classes. Students who registered at a rate of $171 per credit hour will now owe a balance for the increase.

As discussions closed, the Commission voted to approve an increase of 4.7 percent, raising the rate to $179 per credit hour as of this fall semester. Lange pointed out that even with this increase, FDTC’s tuition cost is still lower than more than half of technical colleges in South Carolina.

Additionally, Lange presented the Commission with a list of capital projects that will require attention within the next few years. FDTC has $6.5 million in federal funding for campus improvements and new construction – including the construction of a 1000 Building, which has since been scrapped – and he said the school needs to reallocate that money to new critical needs projects or risk losing it.

“The walk bridge at the 5000 Building is in dire shape,” said Lange, explaining that engineers have cut into the bridge’s underside and found salt damage and rust. “We know that we’re going to have to replace that bridge or do something fairly major to that bridge within the next few years.”

Lange estimated fixing the walk bridge would cost about $2 million. Other potential projects would include $2.1 million in repairs to the central energy plant, and renovations of the 100, 300, and 400 Buildings for about $1.8 million.

The Commission then entered into an executive session to receive advice on how to proceed with their search for a new FDTC president to replace Dr. Ben Dillard, who retired in March after questions were raised about possible misappropriation of funds at the college. Under Dillard, FDTC was required to pay back over $1.6 million in US Education Department funds related to Title IV student aid violations.

Author: Stephan Drew

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