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Tuition hike, hiring freeze loom at NMC
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Posted on Mar 23 2006
The immediate impact of the $1.5 million cut in the Northern Marianas College budget will be a 43-percent tuition hike, as well as a hiring freeze.
NMC Board of Regents chairwoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds announced during the college’s 25th Silver Anniversary Commemoration Day yesterday at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan that NMC would be raising its tuition from $65 to $95 per credit unit for resident students.
King-Hinds said the move is part of plans to help the college cope with its severely limited budget for the year.
She also disclosed that a hiring freeze is in the offing because of the government’s move to slash NMC’s funding.
“With the drastic cut in the budget, college administrators, with the support of the board, are now forced to implement a hiring freeze,” she said.
King-Hinds said the hiring freeze will equate to $588,356 in related savings. The board chair said the action will result in less instructors, less counselors, and one less school dean.
The college’s operational costs were also cut by $456,222, she said.
“That cut will have a direct impact on the quality of our delivery of programs and services,” she said, adding that the cut will tremendously affect their future accreditation with accrediting agencies such as the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
King-Hinds called on the Fitial administration to help the college adhere to its mission to enhance the quality of life of the people who reside in the CNMI.
She said the government should help the college fulfill its constitutionally mandated mission of providing meaningful postsecondary education for the people of the Commonwealth.
The Fitial administration has slashed some $1.5 million from the college’s continuing resolution budget level of $8,046,839 due to the ongoing economic difficulty.
Fitial told NMC officials Friday last week that other government agencies and offices such as the Public School System also need additional assistance, “thus the budget allocation must be carefully and comprehensively spread out.”
