TCC Approves FY 19 Budget

TCC Board of Regents approved a $117.4 million Education and General budget for FY19 at its June 14 meeting. This year’s budget reflects no change in state allocations from the previous year.

“This budget is far from restoring the devastating state funding cuts we endured for the past four years as TCC’s state allocations decreased $9 million. While state funding remained flat this year, we have to begin digging ourselves out of this hole,” said TCC President & CEO Leigh B. Goodson, Ph.D.

The budget, which takes effect July 1, allocates $1.5 million to begin addressing deferred maintenance on all four campuses. The budget also includes a four percent increase in tuition. The change equals a $5.33 per credit hour increase from $132.67 to $138 for in-state tuition beginning fall 2018. Fees will remain the same. Tuition will increase to $356 per credit hour for non-residents.

“TCC employees can’t continue to subsidize the operation of the College. Our faculty are required to have master’s degrees. We have lost ground in being able to offer competitive salaries to hire the best, especially in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields,” said Goodson.

In developing this budget, TCC administration employed a multi-year budget forecast to examine trends and key metrics for the College. This process provides an outline for the next 5 years and allows TCC leadership to make long term strategic decisions.

The TCC budget is comprised of three revenue sources state appropriations, tuition and fees and ad valorem taxes. State appropriations represent 24 percent of the FY19 budget, down from roughly 32 percent just six years ago.

Despite a decrease in state funding, TCC has made significant changes to improve the student success rate as part of the Pathways Project, a national initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. TCC overhauled the student enrollment, orientation, and advising process drastically decreasing the advisor to student ratio from 1,044 students to one academic advisor to 300-to-1 by the end of summer 2018. At the same time, TCC’s retention rate increased from 60.4 percent to 62.1 percent from fall 2016 to fall 2017.