Majority Leader opposes ECC tuition increase

Erie County Legislature Majority Leader Joseph Lorigo released the following statement after today’s Legislature vote on the Erie Community College budget:

 

“The ECC Board of Trustees has included another tuition hike in next year’s budget. I cannot support a budget that again raises the cost for students. We continue to see enrollment drop and raising the cost of tuition is not going to fix ECC’s financial issues. It makes it more difficult for students to attend ECC and further their education. I will continue to work with ECC to get on the right track to ensure we are serving and helping them to succeed, but I cannot support a budget that pushes a tuition hike onto students for the seventh consecutive year,” said Majority Leader Lorigo.

 

Majority Leader Lorigo noted that the Legislature has worked to assist ECC with its budgetary problems through other methods. The past two years the Erie County Legislature Majority Caucus sponsored proposals to allocate funding for the retirement incentive program. As a result, ECC realized savings.  

 

On top of the tuition increase that ECC officials put in its budget, students will also have to deal with the 3.1 percent ($200) system-wide increase approved June 21 by the SUNY Board of Trustees.