Mercer County Community College proposes hikes in tuition and fees - Jenna Pizzi, The Times of Trenton

College president Patricia Donohue said the board has approved increases by the same amount in the past few years to fund increasing operating costs. “Their mandate is always to keep it as low as possible,” Donohue said. “Students recognize that there are operating costs that continue to go up regularly.” In addition to increased costs, Donohue said the state cut aid to the college by $2 million a few years ago and that funding never returned. She said tuition now funds more than half of the college’s $62 million budget. “We don’t like the increases but we understand that they are important,” Donohue said. “We want tuition to be as reasonable as possible.”The Mercer County Community College board of trustees is proposing a tuition increase and fee hike to go into effect this summer. The increases will be voted on by the board at its meeting on Thursday at which the public will be asked to give feedback. If approved, the combined tuition and fee hikes would raise the cost to attend the college by $4 for each credit hour. The current cost per credit hour, according to information posted on the college’s website, is $138 for Mercer County residents and $182.50 for non-county residents. International students are charged $269.50 per credit hour. http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2013/02/mercer_county_community_colleg_15.html