After denying the same request two weeks ago, the council that oversees the community colleges in West Virginia approved a 7 percent tuition increase at BridgeValley Community and Technical College.
The Council for Community and Technical Colleges approved the increase during a conference call, along with a handful of budgets for institutions that had to rework their budgets after their tuition increases were previously rejected.
"For me, I'm not sure how the council can approve a 9 percent at one school and not approve this," said Councilman Bob Brown, referencing the council's last meeting where it approved similar increases but denied larger ones. "I do understand that part of the cost that we're dealing with at BridgeValley is the issue of the lease there.
The only member of the council to vote against the 7 percent increase was Keith Burdette, a member of the council and the state's commerce secretary.
Eunice Bellinger, BridgeValley's president, said the West Virginia Regional Technology Park wants to raise the rent for the buildings her school leases there. The tuition increase will go, in part, to help pay for the increase.
The school currently pays about $1.1 million dollars to rent its main campus, the Advance Technology Center and an annexed building at the WVRTP. The school has not yet resigned its lease.
Burdette suggested that the school refuse to pay for any increases on the cost per square feet in any new lease it signs. Bellinger didn't think that was a good idea.
"What are they going to do? They're going to sue us?" Burdette said. "Let them sue. I double dare them."
All the while, Bellinger said the school is trying to adapt to the economic challenges by projecting a flat enrollment, eliminating 15 academic programs and certificates this past year and not filling several vacant positions.
"A cookie-cutter method doesn't work for these tuition increases," said Clarence "Butch" Pennington, the council's chairman. "Some of them have a lot more resources, as we know. Some are very small and some are in very rural areas. I think for this, that was my rationale for picking and choosing who should get more of an increase than others."
Also Wednesday, the council approved the budgets for BridgeValley, Eastern WV Community and Technical College, Southern WV Community and Technical College and West Virginia University at Parkersburg.
The council will meet again on August 18 at the Advanced Technology Center in South Charleston.
Reach Jake Jarvis at jake.jarvis@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @NewsroomJake on Twitter.