At a time when costs are rising across the country, Pearl River Community College is bucking the national trend in an effort to better support its students. The PRCC Board of Trustees voted June 14 to keep in-state tuition unchanged for the 2022-23 school year.
PRCC has continued to be efficient with its budget in an effort to give those important savings to in-state students in the form of yet another tuition freeze for the sixth consecutive year. The college is one of the few Mississippi institutions to not increase tuition during that timeframe.
“Higher education costs around the state and country continue to escalate but we have not put any of that added burden on the backs of our students and instead have kept our in-state tuition frozen since 2017,” said PRCC President Dr. Adam Breerwood. “We have always sought to remove obstacles that people often encounter when pursuing a degree and the financial challenge is often the greatest hurdle. At Pearl River we are determined to keep our tuition unchanged so we can give all the students in our community an opportunity to pursue the highest quality of education.
“Our goal has always been to keep our education affordable, accessible and efficient and thanks to the dedication of our faculty, staff and Board of Trustees, we’ve once again made that goal a reality.”
Beyond keeping tuition at a steady rate, the college recently adopted a $30 per credit hour fee for courses using digital materials. The move to ebooks and digital resources has significantly decreased the expense for students compared to traditional print materials that can be hundreds of dollars per course. This option allows students to pay just $90 per course or $450 for a full 15-hour semester.
“While most community colleges and universities across the country are increasing tuition, PRCC is once again freezing tuition and being more efficient internally to offset our costs,” said Candace Harper, Vice President for Enrollment Management & Business Services. “It is important to us that students are financially able to attend college without a high debt after completing their degree.
“Our administrators were once college students with the same struggles and we understand the burden of paying for an education. Our priority is to make sure PRCC is affordable, accessible and efficient for all who seek an education.”
For full tuition information, visit prcc.edu/admissions/tuition-fees.
PAYING FOR COLLEGE
Pearl River offers a variety of ways that students can decrease their out-of-pocket expenses for attending college. More than $4.5 million in institutional scholarships, both academic and service-based, were provided during the 2021-22 school year. Additionally, the PRCC Development Foundation has hundreds of scholarships students can qualify for through a simple application. These scholarships total over a million dollars each year and are made possible through the generosity of donors.
PRCC students who are residents of Forrest County, Hancock County or the City of Hattiesburg are eligible for additional help through the County Tuition Assistance Program (CTAP.) CTAP will cover the current cost of tuition per semester for up to a maximum of four consecutive semesters (excluding summer school) after all federal, state, and institutional scholarship aid that is awarded to a student has been applied.
PAY RAISE FOR FACULTY AND STAFF
The PRCC Board of Trustees has also approved a 5% increase in salary for faculty and staff of the college, effective July 1. This marks the fourth year of pay raises that recognize the hard work of the faculty and staff.
INTERESTED IN SPONSORING A SCHOLARSHIP?
PRCC’s Alumni Association and Development Foundation manages scholarships with a variety of criteria attached to them. Individuals, families, or organizations can start scholarships to benefit future students. This can be done as a full endowment with a $10,000 minimum, a partial endowment, or an annual gift.
For the latest news on Pearl River Community College, visit PRCC.edu and follow us on Twitter (@PRCC_Wildcats), Instagram (PRCCWILDCATS), and Facebook (@PRCCMKTG).
