NORWICH – There appears to be a glimmer of hope that taxpayers may be paying less this year for sending students outside the county to community colleges, and, in turn, taking pride in more students attending the Norwich campus of Morrisville State College.
Tuitions to community colleges are subsidized – in equal thirds – by the enrolled student, by the county where that student resides and by the state.
Community college chargebacks to Chenango County have dropped for the second year in a row, from a high of $1,057,856 paid back in 2007. Lawmakers were forced tap surplus to make the appropriation that year. While the local share for 2010 is conservatively estimated at $1,025,000, this year’s expenditure is expected to be less than the $951,000 paid out in 2008.
New York’s community college rates for 2009/2010 have also been lowered. Tuition for a full-time equivalent student is $2,060 next year at Broome Community College, the county’s biggest vendor, compared to a high of $2,200 paid back in 2007.
At Morrisville’s branch in Norwich, the number of students enrolled for the fall semester, 515, is up by about a dozen students over last year. The enrolled population of students breaks down to 327 full-time and 188 part-time. Applications were also up, by almost 50 percent.
“We are steadily climbing up,” said newly-appointed interim Dean Marcia Cornelius.
The growth is attributed to several factors, she said, including the addition of three academic programs of study, early childhood, human services and criminal justice; increased engagement with area high school students and guidance counselors; the addition of full-time faculty; and an overall upswing in public recognition of the campus through open houses and other community events.
Seventy-eight percent of this year’s class is from Chenango County, followed by Otsego County with 40 students, Delaware County with 35 students, Broome County with 15 students, Madison County with 13, and Cortland County with 7 students. There were four counties with one student each: Cattaraugus, Genesee, Tomkins and Orange.
In addition, there are approximately 158 students from Chenango County who are attending the Morrisville Campus this semester.
“We have seen a correlation between the community college chargebacks trending down and the Norwich campus enrollment up. The better that Morrisville does, the less we pay here,” said county Treasurer William Evans.
SUNY schools took brunt of Governor David Paterson’s $90 million cut to state schools this year, however. Cornelius said the cut amounts to $1 million to Morrisville alone. “We have to find it in operating expenses, not employees,” she said. “I’m not sure where.”
To economize, class sizes have increased and some curriculum sections combined, she said.
The local share for supporting the Norwich campus is budgeted next year at $36,046, a 3 percent increase.