HGTC board approves tuition hike for fall

Every dollar for Justin Oliver’s education comes from his own pocket.

And with Horry Georgetown Technical College raising tuition for the fall semester, the 22-year-old business student will have to reach a little deeper to cover the bill.

Last week, the college’s board approved a tuition increase of about 3 percent, which amounts to $106 more per year for in-state students ($4.41 per credit hour) and an additional $192 for their out-of-state peers ($8 per credit hour).

“It ain’t too awful bad,” said Oliver, who will pay the in-state rate. “But you’d rather it be lower.”

The increase will help the college cover the rising costs of employee health benefits, utilities and some other expenses, said HGTC President Neyle Wilson. The amount is also in line with the projections of the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI), which tracks the factors driving college costs.

“We’re still the second lowest one in the system,” Wilson said, referring to the in-state tuition rates of South Carolina’s 16 technical colleges.

The latest hike is also less than the one HGTC officials approved last year. That increase raised tuition by $11 per credit hour for in-state students and $18 an hour for those from outside the state.

The state board governing technical schools sets minimum and maximum tuition levels. College officials have said the state board mandates a minimum tuition level because some institutions were not charging enough and were relying on the state office to offset their shortfalls, thus hurting other colleges.

Although the state board still has to make its final decision on tuition rates, HGTC’s leaders wanted students to be aware of their projections.

“We just thought it was important to put our returning students on notice that this may occur,” Wilson said. “So they can plan.”

Like Oliver, Drew Richardson is in his first semester at HGTC. Any tuition increase would affect him.

The 20-year-old moved to the area from Indian Land after his friend enrolled at Coastal Carolina University. Richardson thought he would check out the beach too, but he preferred to take his general education classes at HGTC.

Even with the expected tuition increase, Richardson said the HGTC rate is lower than what his friend pays at Coastal.

“Their tuition is going up also,” he said of Coastal. “So I feel like this is a much better setup because you take the same classes, but for less cost. So I’m saying, ‘Why not get your two years here and then go on?’”

Coastal officials have said a tuition increase may be necessary to cover higher operating costs and make up for limited state funding.

Officials have not determined how steep the hike would be, but they’ve said it would likely impact both in-state and out-of-state students.

Last year, Coastal’s in-state undergrads saw a $140 per semester increase. Out-of-state students had to pay $335 more per semester.

In February, Coastal administrators asked the university’s board of trustees to allow them to increase tuition up to the amount recommended by the S.C. Legislature. But board members didn’t feel comfortable approving the blank check request because lawmakers hadn’t released their recommendation and Coastal staffers hadn’t finalized their budget plans.

Coastal spokeswoman Martha Hunn said this week that the university is still waiting on input from state leaders.

This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 5:43 PM with the headline "HGTC board approves tuition hike for fall."