An infusion of state money over the past two years allowed Carroll Community College to hold steady with the second-lowest tuition in the state -- $48 per credit hour.
But with prospects dim for getting more state money this year, the college's proposed 1996 budget includes a tuition increase of $5 per credit hour, to $53, which takes effect July 1 if the budget is approved in the spring by the County Commissioners.
"Tuition is the last revenue source we evaluate," said Alan Schuman, Carroll's vice president for administration.
"Over the last couple years, we've been able to keep it low because of the infusion of the state dollars as a result of becoming independent" of Catonsville Community College.
"This is a maintenance budget," he said.
Only Baltimore City Community College, at $47, had a rate lower than Carroll did this year, and that school gets a much larger share of state money than do other community colleges, Mr. Schuman said.
The rest of the colleges' rates ranged from $53 in Somerset and Wicomico counties to $71 in Howard County. The average for the 18 colleges statewide is $57, but that will increase this year as other colleges raise their tuition rates, Mr. Schuman said.
If the governor's budget does include new money for the colleges, Carroll's staff and trustees would re-evaluate the tuition increase, Mr. Schuman said.
The college board of trustees approved the request last week. The budget and any tuition increase would become final with the commissioners' vote in May.
The total budget request for Carroll Community College is $8,679,525 for 1996, which is $222,203 or 2.6 percent more than this year.
Of the additional money requested, the college is asking that $123,849 more come from the county, for a total county share of $3 million, a 5 percent increase in the Carroll's portion.
Mr. Schuman said the college worked to hold the line on program costs.
"We've been attempting to keep our costs low, [such as by] RTC seeking contracts to provide services whenever possible, rather than provide them ourselves," he said.
"And as a growing institution, we haven't developed a lot of high-cost programs at this stage," Mr. Schuman said.
"Programs such as technology, auto mechanics. We've shied away from those types of equipment-intensive lab courses. We arrange with Catonsville [Community College] for students to go there. However, once we get a large enough student population here to offer those courses, we'll offer them. Once we do, our costs will rise," he said.
The only new position is a computer programmer the college is already paying for through a contract with Catonsville Community College. The change is a formality to shift the position to one on the Carroll payroll.
The budget proposal includes merit increment raises, but no cost-of-living increases.
"We'll defer to the County Commissioners for their decision at a later date," Mr. Schuman said.
In the past, the commissioners have voted increases for the college employees equivalent to that of other county employees, and provided the additional money to pay for it.