The Heartland Community College (HCC) Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a tentative budget for the next fiscal year. The $30.7 million spending plan allots for a $260,000 deficit, which is half of the original projection.
Heartland Vice President of Business Services Doug Minter said the estimated deficit could change between now and the final budget approval in September.
“That could still go up, with final, depending on what happens with enrollment and depending on what happens with some additional decisions we will be making related to budget, and it could go down. But we consider it good news,” Minter said.
Enrollment and MAP Grants
HCC projects a 3 percent decline in enrollment for the fall 2018 semester. Heartland had 5,193 credit-earning students in fall 2017, plus 12,017 non-credit students.
As part of the state budget, higher education saw a 2 percent increase. Part of that included what was presented as guaranteed Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant funding.
“The guarantee requires a student to fill out an application every year and that the funding be appropriated every year,” HCC President Rob Widmer said. “Part of the challenge is, that doesn’t necessarily always work the best for our community college students if money gets exhausted before our students enroll.”
The board also voted to advance plans to bring a Subway into the student center and to update the college's $86,250 agreement with Connect Transit for free student rides.
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