Incoming and returning students at Southwest Mississippi Community College will see a slight increase in tuition, meal plans and fees, but some other expenses, including eBooks and distance learning and online course fees are going down.
Vice President of Financial Affairs Andrew Alford said tuition will increase by $40 from $1,400 to $1,440, but eBooks will decrease from $250 to $200 due to a new agreement with vendor Cengage.
“We are moving from a standard agreement to an unlimited agreement,” Alford said.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Alicia Shows said the agreement now gives students more access to Cengage’s library, even if they’re not in the class.
“They called it Netflix for your books,” Shows said, adding that a new contract with the company will give students more access to online homework and study tools.
She gave an example of the college’s English literature class, which doesn’t have an actual textbook, but because of the eBooks agreement, all of the class’ short stories and study materials used can be accessed from one site.
“The reduced cost benefits our students,” Alford said.
Alford said the decrease to distance learning and online course fees are due to the fact that the Mississippi Virtual Community College Board came up with a new fee assessment formula that includes each student.
The course fee is now $30, and Alford said it’s needed to pay for the proctor who monitors tests taken in the computer lab.
Science lab fees will rise by $20, music lessons will increase by $25 and the meal plan will see a $75 increase.
“We haven’t had an increase to our meal plan in five years,” Alford said.
The new five-day meal plan, which is $850, is going to $925, and the seven day plan which is $1,025 will increase to $1,100.
Alford said there will be no change in the cost of room and board.
He said the increases vary by student, depending on whether they take online classes, the number of science classes and music lessons they’re taking and whether they have a meal plan.
College president Steve Bishop said the increase equates to 30 cents per meal. Bishop said the increase was also due to the federal Pell Grant increasing by $90 for those students that qualified.
Helping prompt the increases, Southwest will see a decrease in state funding by $39,000 and a decrease in funding for career and technical education programs by $109,000.
Alford said the decrease happened after the State Board of Community and Junior Colleges conducted its annual enrollment audit, which recorded a decline in community college enrollment.
He said the decrease was due to a decline in enrollment across the state. though Southwest’s enrollment has remained steady.
