Financing a college education is getting more difficult as tuition rises and student loan interest rates could increase. Interim President of Brookdale Community College William Toms said while most educational institutions are increasing their costs to students, Brookdale has found ways to reduce tuition. He spoke with NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider about college costs.
Toms said Brookdale’s mission is to provide access and affordable higher education to Monmouth County residents and others who wish to attend the college. “You are essentially getting the same exact two years of your college education that is transferable to any state college in the state of New Jersey,” he said.
When Toms sees the tuition rates at other colleges and universities, he said he doesn’t know how families are able to afford the rates. “We at Brookdale over the past two years, we’ve taken a hard look at the way we do business and our budget picture and made some very easy decisions quite honestly that have taken some by surprise,” he said. “We actually decreased our tuition by $3 a credit hour so what that essentially means is Brookdale tuition rates right now are at 2009 levels.”
In addition to lowered costs, Toms explained that Brookdale will be operating an accelerated business cohort that awards an associate’s degree starting in September. The school partnered with New Jersey Natural Gas, which offered a donation specifically earmarked for the program. Toms said students enrolled in this program will receive a $250 book stipend and the donation will fund up to a $3 per credit hour increase next fiscal year starting in July 2013.
“Essentially what we do for students and families, we today can guarantee what the cost of their associate degree program will be, provided they finish in the two years of the business accelerated cohort program,” Toms said. “That’s something that most colleges and universities cannot guarantee.”
While Toms said it’s difficult to roll back some of the costs of running a college, some can be deferred. “There is a federal legislation that kicks in July 1 which will increase the premiums and henceforth the rates of student health plans for all colleges throughout the country,” he said. “We will be probably renewing our premiums with a provider prior to July 1 so that won’t hit our students this July 1 but it probably will come next July 1.”
To keep other prices in check, Toms said Brookdale uses a consortium when purchasing books, gas and electric.
If the federal student loan program isn’t adjusted, Toms said it will impact Brookdale students, along with many throughout the country. More students are turning to student loans, according to Toms, because they are unable to take out home equity loans, credit loans or others to pay for their education.
Students’ economic situations have also changed the dynamic at Brookdale. “We are seeing a shift from full-time students to part-time students,” Toms said. “There’s a number of students that started out full-time and now are going part-time because of the need to work to finance their education.”
WATCH VIDEO: