Back in May, it was announced that tuition for students in the VSCS would be going up by 1 percent, after $2.5 million in state support funding brought the hikes down from 3 percent.
The reduction to 1% from 3% increase was purported to benefit full time Vermont students with annual savings of $192 to $336, depending on which college and program they attended. We are especially grateful on behalf of our students, for whom college will cost a bit less next year,” said Chancellor Jeb Spaulding, in the May press release.

Now, after Spaulding’s White Paper memo, the Board of Trustees seems to have gone back on this original offer. According to a new press release, the Board has approved tuition hikes back up to 2.9 percent.

“In one year only, Northern Vermont University has already accomplished great things for its students, and it has become a national model for unification. We reaffirm our strong support for NVU and for public higher education in the northern tier of Vermont. We look forward to helping it realize its vision for two vibrant campuses that serve students throughout the region and beyond,” said VSCS Board Chair Church Hindes.

After the Board and Chancellor started their listening tour, frustrated staff, students and faculty at Lyndon worried that the campus might be closed.

“We have not finished our assessment of our system to achieve the educational and fiscal results we hope to achieve. However, due to recent, unfounded rumors, we have addressed NVU first. We are not proposing the closure of the Lyndon campus, and we are not proposing replacing campus-based academic programs with NVU Online. NVU Online provides national access to quality NVU programs that differ from their campus-based programs,” Spaulding said.

Each college in the system can set their own tuition hikes. At present, it is not clear how this will affect Johnson students or NVU as a whole. President Elaine Collins is expected to make an announcement in the coming weeks.

Spaulding and the Board are still looking for “practical suggestions that will provide meaningful and durable financial benefits to allow the system’s institutions to thrive. It will prioritize those solutions that are good for students and good for Vermont,” according to an email from President Collins. Those suggestions can be directed to [email protected].