Tuition rates will increase slightly for Allen Community College students who do not live in Allen County, while housing and meal plans will go up in 2026-27, ACC trustees decided Tuesday.
Trustees, gathered for a special meeting to discuss the tuition and fees rates, heard from its three VPs to discuss a number of topics related to the budget planning process. Vice President of Academic Affairs Kara Wheeler, Vice President for Student Affairs Cami Keitel and Vice President for Finance and Operations Matthew Gleason broke down several issues facing the college.
Wheeler began the presentation by noting Allen’s combined state aid — determined by taking the average enrollment over the past three years — will drop $370,820 in 2026-27, to $4.3 million. That number is more than $1 million less than what ACC received in 2024-25, Wheeler noted.
While part of the drop is tied to lower enrollment trends, Wheeler said the state is also paring student success funds, from $463,000 in 2024-25 to $54,500 in 2026-27, a number expected to be wiped away entirely by 2027-28. Additionally, some business course aid will drop from $316,000 to $311,000, a number that sounds small but has a bigger impact than one might think. (More on that later.)
Not all the numbers are down, she added. The state’s capital outlay funds will increase a tad from $335,000 to $341,000; tiered funding for career and technical education course funding will increase from $473,000 to $513,000; and campus restoration funds will bump up from $61,000 to $100,000.
One of the state’s provisos to receive the capital outlay boost is that Allen cannot increase its mill levy for the upcoming school year.
There are other strings attached to the state funding, including limitations on CTE funds for high school juniors and seniors.
Losing the state aid for business courses will likely take a bite out of Allen’s enrollment in future years, Wheeler explained, because the college will no longer be able to offer some of those courses at no cost. Allen already has cut several online business classes as a result.
KEITEL broke down the housing and meals plans, which will increase $300 across the board for students who live in any of Allen’s seven housing complexes. Horton, Winter and Ballard Hall students will see their rates increase to $6,300; Masterson Hall, Herynk Hall and those in the Red Devil Duplexes and Parkford Apartments will see their annual costs go to $7,300.
There are a couple of important notes to consider, Keitel said. For one, the college expects a 4% increase in food costs. Secondly, the new housing and meal rates include a $100 up-front cost to use the laundry services within the student housing complexes.
That’s because the pay-as-you-go practices in years past often led to students trying to limit their loads of laundry, thus stuffing washing machines with oversized loads, and leading to more frequent breakdowns.
“It looks like an increase, but it’s really just an upfront fee,” Keitel said.
GLEASON broke down the proposed tuition hikes.
International students will pay $125 per credit hour, a $10 hike from this year’s total, while out-of-state and Kansas residents outside Allen County will see their rates increase $5 per credit hour to $125 and $105, respectively.
Student fees will not change for the upcoming year.
Gleason explained the rationale for keeping the rates static for Allen County residents — $75 per hour — was because their parents or guardians are already county taxpayers.
