Freezing tuition and mandatory fees and expanding scholarships for adult learnersThe Northern Oklahoma College Board of Regents approved the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget at the June 19th meeting in Tonkawa. The approved Educational and General Operating Budget of $24,884,666 represents an increase of 2.2% ($541,659).Northern will not be seeking an increase in tuition and mandatory fees for the 2024-2025 academic year. The slight cost difference from 2023-2024 reflected in the cost comparison chart, located online at www. noc.edu/tuition is due to an increase in an academic service fee for the Tonkawa and Enid campuses. The NOC/OSU Gateway cost will remain flat for the third year in a row. The NOC Board of Regents unanimously approved this freeze in tuition and mandatory fees during their meeting and it will be presented to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for approval on June 27.“The Regents are very pleased we are able to continue to provide high quality educational opportunities and services to NOC students without increasing the financial burden on them or their families,” said regent chair Brad Fox.NOC will provide over $3 million in waivers and scholarships to our students. The institution also received state and federal funds which will allow us to increase the scholarship assistance we provide to our adult learners. Special funding is available to eligible students for the Reach Higher Scholarship and/or the GEER (Governor’s Emergency Education Relief) Scholarship, helping adult students complete their degree, thus meeting some of the demands of Oklahoma’s critical workforce needs. For more information, contact Kathleen Swain at 580-6286258 or kathleen.swain@noc. edu.Again this year, institutions will be reimbursed for 100% of the total eligible waivers for high school juniors and seniors that our institutions provided in FY24. This $642,087 reimbursement represents an increase of $97,159 from the previous year.In other positive news, The Oklahoma Legislature passed key policies for Higher Education which addressed deferred maintenance and some prior escalation in property insurance premiums. NOC will receive a total of $10,376,633 for FY 25, representing an overall increase in allocations of 1.57% ($156,167) from FY24.For the third and final year, $262,645 in state appropriations will be received to be utilized for STEM-related degree programs that lead to occupations listed as requiring a degree on Oklahoma’s Top 100 Critical Occupations (20182028). This “at-risk” funding will be re-evaluated at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year for possible reallocation.“I am extremely pleased we were ...
