Strapped colleges resort to fee hikes - Vivian Yee, Boston Globe

With costs rising, enrollments ballooning, and federal funds drying up, many of Massachusetts’ community colleges and state universities are turning to what they say is their only option for making ends meet: student fees. Like the University of Massachusetts, nine of the state’s 15 community colleges and seven of its nine state universities have approved higher fees for undergraduates next year, ranging from $150 and $700 extra. While fees rise every year due to escalating costs, these public institutions are losing millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds next year, forcing them to adopt heftier increases than usual. And Massachusetts educational administrators warn that relatively large rises in student fees may become standard over the next several years.