A 10% tuition increase per credit for in-county students, the largest increase in 30 years, was approved by the Board of Trustees at MCCC at their meeting on the college’s Trenton campus on March 25.
Starting this summer, in-county students taking 12 credits will pay approximately $280 more in tuition and fees. In the past 30 years, most past tuition increases fell in the 2% to 4% range according to state and college data.
The board voted 8-0 to approve the increase, with two members abstaining. About 25 people attended the meeting in person, including board members, college president and board secretary Dr. Deborah Preston, and one dean. No current student representatives were there to respond.
In 2022, the Board initially proposed a 3% tuition increase but unexpectedly raised the proposal to 5%. Then SGA president Christian Perez mobilized students to give testimonials at the Board of Trustees meeting. The board subsequently scaled back a proposed 5% tuition increase to 3%. Perez spoke to The VOICE about his experience.
“[SGA leaders are] the first ones to find out about something and…the ones that the administration, the staff, the faculty, the students are going to expect to be the first responders,” he said.
When he heard that the Board was planning to meet to vote on the morning of the vote, he said, “I put together an email blast to all of the student leaders that I had.” He continued, “Thankfully, a lot of them gave testimonials, like myself, but just being there showed the board of trustees that this was important to the students even during a spring break.”
Current SGA president William Duffie did not attend this year’s Board vote to increase tuition. He told the VOICE he wasn’t able to be there because of a personal matter.
The VOICE reached out to multiple student representatives on the SGA for comment on the tuition increase but all declined to comment.
However, alumni trustee and former SGA president from 2023 to 2025 Mirian Lopez, chose to attend via Zoom, and did speak out on behalf of students. She described what it was like being a first-generation, low-income student, saying that the increase goes against the mission of accessible education.
“I recognize that the college is facing real financial challenges,” she said to the board. “However, students should not be the primary solution …Tuition increases place the burden on those who are already financially vulnerable.”
Board chair Kristin Appelget responded, “We are in some uniquely challenging times with uniquely challenging pressures. …I am concerned about being able to achieve the budget that we have set with the current tuition. I still feel that we’re going to have difficulty meeting the budget.”
Dr. Preston told the VOICE that “our costs have dramatically increased. And our revenue has decreased.” She continued, “If everything goes the way we predict it, which it won’t, we will still have about a $600,000 deficit, even with the 10% [tuition] increase.”
At an open meeting the week before the vote, Dr. Preston told students, “There are a lot of financial aid options…[students] can get Pell awards…the Student Educational Opportunity Grant, TAG from the state of New Jersey, NJ STARS from the state of New Jersey, Community College College Opportunity Grant…private scholarships, student loans.”
During his time as SGA president, Perez advocated at the state legislature to protect financial aid programs for vulnerable students, especially those in tricky middle income brackets.
He said, “Middle-class students who don’t qualify for financial aid, yet at the same time [whose] families are not affluent enough that a few-hundred-dollar increase isn’t meaningless to them.” He added, “Financial aid programs, they change. Expecting these financial aid programs, which may or may not exist year by year…it’s kind of flimsy. You’re still pricing people out of their education.”
During the board meeting where the tuition increase was approved, various other agenda items were addressed. One was a proposal to update the college’s website.
Lopez responded to the proposal and returned to the tuition increase asking the Board, “How are we going to attract those [nontraditional] students who may not be able to afford to enroll with the proposed…tuition increase? I just feel there seems to be a disconnect with the messaging.”
Erica Oliver, vice president of advancement, marketing, and communications, replied, “well, the website will have financial aid information.”
