A five percent tuition increase for the 2022-23 academic year was approved unanimously by the Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) Board of Trustees Monday.

The tuition increase amounts to $6 per contact hour for in-district students (Grand Traverse County residents.) Fees will rise $1.50 per contact hour. For the average in-district student taking 24 contact hours in a two-semester academic year, it represents an increase of $180 ($144 in tuition, $36 in fees.)

In 2021, a tuition increase was mostly offset by a fee decrease.

In a press release, the college noted that "as state support again declined, now at 23 percent of the budget, and growth in property tax revenue is capped, tuition remains one of the few levers the college controls. Inflation, currently at 8 percent nationally, and NMC’s ambitious strategic plan also informed this year’s budget. The plan, NMC Next, includes two dozen objectives in five areas including student engagement and success and future focused education."

For 2022–23, NMC’s revenue will be 23 percent from state aid, 27 percent from local property tax, 47 percent from tuition and fees and 3 percent from other sources.