The College of New Caledonia is considering a two per cent tuition hike to help pay off a projected $1.8 million budget shortfall.

CNC president John Bowman said the college will likely have no choice but to force students to pay more for their education after putting off tuition increases last year when the budget deficit was also pegged at $1.8 million.

"In total, tuition fees at CNC over the past seven years have increased by just 10 per cent," Bowman said. "Given that it was zero last year, we think a two per cent increase is modest and reasonable. It represents about $150,000 in total revenue and that's a significant piece of that $1.8 million.

"This is not the first time we have dealt with that situation. Last year we resolved that through a combination of reductions and we were also able to secure additional one-time funding towards the end of the budget process that eliminated about a third of the shortfall. We can't count on that funding being here again."

Fewer students, employee salary advancements, new and upgraded software licensing and maintenance fees and higher utility costs are the reasons for the budget shortfall bill, CNC's senior administration reported in Friday's board meeting.

To cut costs, Bowman said the college has already not filled several vacant administration positions and will be offering early-retirement incentives and voluntary severance packages to full-time employees, some of whom will not be replaced or will be replaced by part-time staff.

Colleges are limited to annual tuition hikes of no more than two per cent and Bowman said over the past seven years there have been no increases in two of those years. Colleges are required to have balanced budgets every year and CNC expects no increase in provincial funding this year.

Tuition revenues this year are projected to be $400,000 less than what was budgeted for, with about 3,800 full-time equivalent students now attending classes at all CNC campuses.

"We have a contingency against that so we're fine for the current fiscal year but we need to use that revised number to plan for next year," Bowman said.

"We are doing what we can to raise funds to support student scholarships and bursaries and we're raising funds through donations for equipment. We've had a very successful year getting support from the business community and individual donors to support the work the college is doing."

Despite the imminent higher tuition, Bowman said students who complete post-secondary programs reap the benefits of higher salaries and permanent positions not available to them had they not enrolled in college.

"The college is still a real bargain," said Bowman. "The return on investment on a college education pays off bigtime. The biggest costs associated with going to school is the time you take away from working, living expenses, and the cost of books, which are almost as much as the tuition itself. It's a combination of things that add up to a challenging time for students."