Catawba College students will see only a 2 percent increase in tuition and room costs for the 2014-2015 academic year. However, a new state of North Carolina law that takes effect Jan. 1, 2014, mandates that colleges and universities collect sales tax on student meals. This caused a higher than expected increase in Catawba’s board fees for ’14-’15; board costs will increase by 5.7 percent.

Again this year, college trustees set the tuition, room and board fees for the next academic year at their October board meeting in order to give both current and prospective students and their families time to make their financial plans for next year.

“The college has worked diligently to keep our overall costs low in these challenging times,” said Catawba President Brien Lewis. “Even though the new N.C. sales tax on meals sold to students goes into effect January 1, we chose to hold the line and not have an incremental boarding increase in the middle of this academic year. We want our students and their families to understand how outside forces often impact the institutional rates we set.”

The increases are based in part on HEPI (Higher Education Price Index) and what this annual index indicates about pricing of the “basket of goods” offered by colleges and universities. It is an inflationary tracking measure similar to the Consumer Price Index.

Following is a complete list of Catawba’s rates and fees for the 2014-2015 academic year:

    2014-2015    2013-2014     Percent Increase
Tuition    $27,360    $26,820    2.0%
Room    $5,580    $5,470    2.0%
Board    $4,165    $3,940    5.7%
Total    $37,105    $36,230    2.4%
 
Other [Per Credit Hour]
School of Evening & Graduate Studies    $335    $330    1.5%
J-Term [Winter Term]    $335    $330    1.5%
Davidson County Community College    $335    $330    1.5%
Central Piedmont Community College    $335    $330    1.5%
Summer School    $335    $330    1.5%
Graduate    $175    $170    2.9%
Post-Bachelor    $335    $330    1.5%
Part-time    $685    $680    0.7%
Private Music Lessons [per half hour]    $445    $440    1.1%
Audit    $60    $60    0.0%
Overload    $420    $420    0.0%
Credit by Exam (day)    $210    $210    0.0%
Credit by Exam (all other)    $160    $160    0.0%
 
FEES – [Per Semester]
Parking Day (per semester)    $50    $50    0.0%
Parking SEGS (per semester)    $25    $25    0.0%
Commuter Dining Dollars (per semester)    $50    $50    0.0%