MHCC Board to Vote on Tuition Increase
Current budget proposal includes $4.75 per credit hour tuition increase
A budget proposal for the 2026/2027 academic year includes a $4.75 per credit hour tuition increase for students. The proposed student tuition increase, according to a presentation made by budget admin Jennifer DeMent at a March 18, 2026 Mt. Hood Community College Board of Education meeting, would not increase the college’s revenue to the 4.9 million that would be needed for the budget to not rely on deficit spending. Tuition would increase from $128 per credit hour to 132.75 per credit hour if it were to be approved.
When the full budget proposal was later posted online, it revealed that 27 full-time positions would be cut, including some unfilled roles, and would reduce allocated “unused” funds for part-time hourly and student employment by 23 percent. MHCC President Lisa Skari’s wrote in the proposal that the reductions needed “to address the ongoing deficit cannot be achieved without impacting personnel.”
DeMent said on March 18 that on paper the college would need to increase tuition by $32.50 per credit hour to avoid cutting any staff positions. But realistically, she said that, “if we increased our tuition by $32 dollars per credit hour we would have our enrollment tank, probably, and (it) wouldn’t actually generate 4.9 million.”
Board members asked questions that compared a $3 per credit increase and the proposed $4.75 per credit increase. One difference DeMent explained is that a $3 per credit increase would drop the college’s reserves below a 10 percent threshold something DeMent has actively sought to prevent.
Board members Larry Morgan and Andrew Speer expressed concern that future cuts at the state level or federal level could require higher tuition increases. (The college currently gets over half of it’s revenue from state and federal sources.) Such a cut from the state could occur as a result of projected decreases in federal support for programs such as the Oregon Health Plan (Oregon’s Medicaid program) and SNAP resulting from the passage of the Republican passed H.R. 1 budget bill.
At an April 1, 2026 meeting of the MHCC Budget Committee, which is comprised of the members of the MHCC Board of Education, Skari described the proposed budget and tuition increase as continuing the college’s practice of making predictable increases to tuition.
While a few members of the board seem potentially opposed to the proposed level of tuition increase, the majority seem resigned to the increase as necessary.
Board member William Miller expressed opposition to a $4.75 tuition, saying the most he would likely support would be a $4 increase.
Budget Committee Chair, ShaToyia Bentley, said she still has “heartburn” from the previous increase to a $4 tuition increase from the previous pattern of a $2 per credit tuition increase, and they would like there to be some normalcy for students in predicting tuition increases.
The Budget Committee will hold a public hearing on April 15, 2026 on the proposed budget where the Board is also likely to vote on a tuition increase to approve changes to tuition before registration for the summer term begins.