Fort Lewis College students who are state residents will find their tuition has increased 6 percent when they return to campus this fall.
The decision to increase per-semester tuition from $2,616 to $2,772 was made by college trustees Friday.
“Even with this increase, we’re still the second most affordable college in the state for residents,” campus spokesman Mitch Davis said. “Only Metro State University is lower.”
Davis said he expects other state institutions of higher education will raise prices. So FLC will likely retain its relative position, he said.
Students from out of state will pay the same as they did this year – $8,036 per semester. The amount they pay has remained the same since 2009.
Davis said FLC is the fourth-most affordable college in Colorado for nonresidents.
The changes approved Friday will be adopted in 30 days.
Mandatory student fees, which are independent of tuition, were increased from $56.35 to $56.95 per credit hour. The extra 60 cents covers a Health and Counseling Center fee to fund changes in staffing levels to increase accessibility for students and increase efficiency in day-to-day operations.
The largest chunk of the mandatory fees is $19.70 for the Student Union Building.
Resident students taking more than 18 credit hours will be assessed a surcharge of $231 per credit hour beyond the 18 maximum.
Trustees also increased board and room by 3 percent each.
New fees were set in several areas, including paddling fundamentals, cultural ecology of the Southwest and exercise assessment.
An existing biochemistry lab fee was increased from $20 to $40, and a fee in the cellular and molecular biology class was increased from $20 to $45.
Existing fees for many outdoor activities and art, geology and media production classes were not increased.
daler@durangoherald.com
