NMC President Carmen Fernandez described their projections as “very realistic,” adding that the current tuition collected from enrollees has already reached $1.2 million.
NMC has 785 students for the fall semester and Fernandez expects this number to increase as more students enroll in special programs which include the Bank of Hawaii’s special academic program, the Public School System’s related-service technician program, and the Department of Public Safety’s law enforcement academy.
“With the increase in our enrollment, it is expected that tuition will also increase and we are expecting to exceed our projections for this semester,” Fernandez said.
NMC charges resident students $95 per credit and nonresidents, $190.
Last fall semester, Fernandez said NMC collected about $2.7 million in tuition.
The budget for operations last year was $3.2 million, she added.
“We feel very comfortable with our projections this year as we did an extensive analysis of historical collections and analyzed the trends,” Fernandez said. “We’re optimistic that we will meet the $2.1 million ceiling we set for fiscal year 2009.”
‘Overall budget’
She said she is satisfied with NMC’s proposed budget for FY 2009 that was submitted to lawmakers.
NMC’s original budget request was $6.7 million, but lawmakers have promised to give the college at least $6.2 million, Fernandez said.
“We requested $6.7 million and the Legislature is giving us $6.2 million for FY’09 which is very good,” she said. “This is a strong indication that the administration and the Legislature are supporting us by not cutting our budget drastically. This is a very strong signal to the accrediting commission.”
NMC is under show-cause status following concerns raised by the accrediting commission.
To reaffirm its accreditation, NMC has to resolve the issues identified by the commission in October.
The commission will announce its decision on NMC’s accreditation in January next year.
NMC’s acting chief financial and administrative officer Martin Mendiola reported to the board of trustees on Thursday that the college is now “in good cash position,” with a surplus of about $200,000 from its FY 2008 budget.
He said due to NMC’s “very aggressive” recruitment efforts, he is anticipating additional students in the coming days.
“We will continue tracking this progress,” he told the board.
