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Iowa Central board sets tuition rates, room and board

Tuition rates for students taking less than 12 or more than 18 hours have been set for Iowa Central Community College.

Students taking between 12 and 18 hours will be able to pay a flat-rate tuition, in a move the board said could trim $1,000 from the cost of earning an associate degree. That plan — making Iowa Central the first community college in the state to offer a flat rate — was approved at the Board of Directors December 2018 meeting.

In-state students will pay $174 per credit hour, a $5 increase from last year.

Out-of-state students will pay $256.50 per credit hour, a $7.50 increase.

Students from bordering states meeting the GPA requirement of 3.0 will be $179, a $5 increase.

That’s an increase of about 3 percent for all types of students.

The flat rate for students taking between 12 and 18 hours will be $2,850 per semester, for in-state students.

For students from neighboring states with high enough GPA, the rate will be $2,950 per semester.

For out of state, the rate will be $4,100.

By way of comparison, this means an in-state student taking 18 credit hours would pay the equivalent of $159 per credit hour, instead of the $174 per hour.

Iowa Central President Dan Kinney said he’s heard from students and parents who like the new plan.

“We are winning people over from other institutions,” Kinney said.

Also, student fees per credit hour will increase from $14 to $24.

Part of that is due to the new initiative which allows students to check out a Surface Go device which can be used to access 22,000 textbooks, plus other resources, Kinney said. Part of it is also attributed to infrastructure needs within the campus.

Room and board rates for the upcoming school year will increase by $25 per semester, to a total of $3,450 per semester or $6,900 per year.

That’s less than increases of other years, which have ranged from $65 per year to $300.

“That keeps us very competitive,” Kinney said. “This will be the lowest we’ve brought to you in a number of years. … This is $50 for the year. That’s the lowest it’s been during my tenure.”

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