DAAC Trustees Approve Tuition, Fee Hikes

Trustees at Danville Area Community College voted unanimously Tuesday night to raise tuition by 2 dollars per credit hour, and the college’s universal fee by three dollars.

DAAC President Alice Jacobs says that starting this summer, the new per-credit-hour tuition rate at DACC will be $110 for in-district students, while their fee will be at $15. Fees at the Danville college are being raised for the first time since 2010, while the new  $2 tuition increase compares to a $10 tuition increase last year. Combined, Jacobs says the $5 in tuition and fee hikes will raise approximately $200,000.

One major reason for the increases is due to expected cuts in state funding, due to the scheduled rollback next year of the three-year-old state income tax.

But Jacobs says that even with the tuition and fee increases, Danville Area Community College would find it “very challenging” to absorb state funding decreases of 10 to 20 percent.

“We may have to look at eliminating some positions”, said Jacobs. “We certainly would not want to do that. But we would have to review our budget situation very carefully.”

Jacobs says a cut in state funding would make it difficult for DAAC to continue its recent progress in improving student success outcomes.

Governor Pat Quinn is expected to propose making Illinois’ temporary income tax increase permanent in his budget address Wednesday in Springfield.

Jacobs says if that results in state funding levels staying where they are for higher education, it would certainly make conditions “less challenging” for Danville Area Community College’s budget.