Suffolk County Community College tuition hike won't affect enrollment, officials say

Suffolk County Community College's proposed 3.1% tuition increase, its first in four years, will not affect efforts to retain and increase enrollment, college officials told county legislators Wednesday.

Meanwhile, college officials are working to address allegations in a whistleblower complaint filed by a former staffer who said the college underpaid its exempt, non-union employees for seven years.

College president Edward Bonahue, speaking to the legislature’s Education and Labor Committee during its monthly meeting, said enrollment was up 3% for the spring semester and he hopes for an additional 2% in the fall. Enrollment has fallen 25% since 2011, from 26,789 students to 20,462 currently — a drop partly attributed to the pandemic.

Enrollment initiatives include highlighting the services offered to students, including tutors and advisers and an intervention program for those struggling academically, Bonahue said.

“We have to be focused on our core mission of instruction and services and giving every student an outstanding experience on campus,” he said. “That will help us grow enrollment in terms of both new students and in terms of keeping the students that we have.”

Tuition needs to increase to account for an inflation-driven rise in operating costs, officials said. 

Full-time tuition is expected to rise by $170 to $5,640 for the 2023-24 year. The cost of a single credit would rise by $7 to $235.

Legislators expressed concerns over the school’s long-term fiscal health given past enrollment declines and its planned use of $12.9 million in reserve funding next year.

Mark Harris, SCCC's vice president for financial affairs, said past school data shows no correlation between tuition increases and enrollment.

“I'm hoping that you're already looking at contingencies, should the enrollment continue to decrease,” said Legis. James Mazzarella (R-Moriches), the committee chairman. “Let's hope that scenario gets better, instead of worse.”

Legis. Trish Bergin (R-East Islip) asked Bonahue how he planned to address allegations of underpaying some employees.

The issue was raised by former SCCC deputy counsel Alicia O’Connor, who filed a March 15 complaint under the college’s whistleblower policy. O’Connor said the college did not comply with its policy to raise its salary scale annually in line with the Consumer Price Index between 2015 and 2022, according to a copy of the confidential complaint obtained by Newsday. The issue impacted 44 employees, the complaint said.

Bonahue told legislators he hopes to use money from the school’s 2022-23 budget to settle the complaint but did not say how much it could cost.

“The college is working with counsel to try and investigate the best solution,” Bonahue, who joined SCCC in 2021, said following the meeting.

O’Connor, who left SCCC to take a job at the Fashion Institute of Technology earlier this year, said she was “pleased that Dr. Bonahue is committed to a fair resolution of the issues in the complaint.”

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.