Recent information shows that community college fees in California are among the cheapest in the United States and Pierce is among these schools in the bottom 10% of per-year fees and costs, according to collegecost.ed.gov .
The costs are calculated based on fees charged per credit for the average load of classes a student would take in a year as well as other charges that are regularly applied to a majority of students, such as parking fees. As of the 2011-2012 academic year, Pierce is more than three times lower than the national average.
Joe Perret, Instructor of Computer Applications and Office Technologies, originally investigated this information and brought it to the attention of administrators at an Academic Senate meeting, March 10th.
“Other states have various systems. Some even have different tuition for different colleges within the state. In California the Student Fees are uniform, and we do not charge tuition,” Perret said later.
What students generally think of as “tuition” is actually part of the “student fees” community colleges charge, which are currently set at $47 per unit statewide. Governor Brown has recently proposed a new budget for education which could result in millions of dollars going to community colleges and other administrators are looking at ways to lower the fees across the board.
Perret, on the other hand, sees other ways to keep student costs at a minimum.
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