CMC board votes on rates for proposed bachelor’s courses

Tuition for upper-division courses tentative, pending approval of degrees

[RIFLE, Colo.] – At the April 11 meeting of the Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees, the board voted on tentative tuition rates for upper-division courses, rates that would go into effect if bachelor’s degrees are approved by the Higher Learning Commission, the college’s accrediting body.

In fall 2011, Colorado Mountain College hopes to begin offering bachelor’s degrees. The board heard Monday that, pending final approvals that are anticipated later this month, the college plans to offer a bachelor of science in business administration and a bachelor of arts in sustainability studies.

“We had a very encouraging visit from a Higher Learning Commission team in February, college President and CEO Dr. Stan Jensen told the board. “Another set of reviewers is now considering our request to be able to offer these degrees. We anticipate recommendations from both these groups will be heard by the Higher Learning Commission’s Institutional Actions Council later this month. That council’s vote is the final approval that is required for us to offer the degrees.”

Jensen said that more information about the pending degrees will be available on the college’s website by the end of this week. “We anticipate being able to accept applications on or about April 20, pending receiving that final approval from the HLC,” he told the trustees.

At Monday’s meeting the board tentatively approved tuition rates for third- and fourth-year classes at $95 per credit hour for in-district students, $200 for in-state and $405 for out-of-state. These tuition rates were derived from computer models college staff devised, to ensure that any incremental costs required to run the program would be covered by tuition. Based on current enrollment projections, the program is expected to break even within five years.

“To receive approval from the state legislature and Colorado Department of Higher Education, we had to prove that these degrees would pay for themselves and not require additional funding from the state,” said Jensen. “We balanced that requirement against our desire to remain among the best educational values in Colorado. We have been successful in remaining among the most affordable options in higher education in our state. And especially for students living in our district, particularly if they start with us their freshman year, we remain the most affordable way to earn a four-year degree, once we are able to offer those upper-level classes.”

Trustees heard that at current tuition rates, an in-district student who starts freshman year at Colorado Mountain College and continues through to earn a bachelor’s degree would pay just $8,793 total in tuition and fees across those four years.

For lower-level courses, beginning this summer in-district tuition will be $53 per credit hour, or a total of only $1,590 for a full-time student for a year. Lower-level tuition will be $89 per credit hour for in-state students and $279 for out-of-state students.

Media contacts: Debra Crawford, public information officer, Colorado Mountain College, 970-384-8535; Stan Jensen, president, Colorado Mountain College, 970-456-3144 or 970-947-8366; Stan Orr, president, Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees, 970-945-1478 ext. 204