UNION TWP, Lawrence County — Students at Butler County Community College will have a slight tuition increase for the 2016-17 school year, including summer sessions after June 30.

On June 15, the BC3 trustees approved the tuition increase along with the college’s budget for the next fiscal year, starting on July 1. The final budget is $28.3 million.

The students will pay roughly $12 more per credit hour in tuition and fees, said Jim Hrabosky, the vice president for administration and finance.

“The additional dollars that we need to balance the budget are essentially coming from the student,” Hrabosky said.

“That’s going to generate, by our estimation, about $800,000. That’s what we need to balance the budget.

A county resident will pay $104 per credit hour for tuition, with a resident taking 12 to 17 credits paying a flat rate of $1,560.

Out-of-county residents will pay $208 in tuition for each credit hour, a $3,120 flat rate for 12 to 17 credits.

Out-of-state residents’ tuition will be $312 per credit hour or $4,680 for 12 to 17 credits.

When including student fees with tuition, an in-county student will pay $153 per credit hour, an increase from $141 in the 2015-16 school year.

Out of the total budget, the college will get $16.3 million from tuition, $3.8 million from the county and $8 million from the state, projecting no increase in state funding.

Hrabosky said the college is erring on the conservative side when budgeting for next year given the 2015-16 state budget impasse.

“Our board (of trustees) liked the way we budgeted this year,” he said. “We’re trying to be as conservative as possible.”

Ultimately, Hrabosky said the college is relying on the tuition and fees increases paid by students because he does not have faith in a timely state budget for the new fiscal year.

“I have doubts again,” he said. “I don’t feel that a state budget will be in place on July 1. I have no reason to be optimistic that there will be a budget by next week.”

On the expense side, salaries and wages make up nearly 80 percent of the college’s budget, about $22.5 million, Hrabosky said. While the college will have $260,000 in savings from retirements and unfilled positions in 2016-17 from this fiscal year, the cost of salaries still increases by about $172,000.

Hrabosky said school officials are worried about an estimated 7 percent decrease in fall enrollment.

“Already, we’re kind of getting anxious because ... if that 7 percent holds in August, we might have to look at a rebudget,” he said.

“We may have to go back to the drawing board in August, depending on our (enrollment) numbers. It would create about a $600,000 budget hole.

“These (enrollment) numbers have been that way for the last three weeks. You start to see trends.”

Hrabosky said that this year the fall semester starts about a week later so he hopes that this means students have put off their applications a little later in response.