By Kat Tabor
Lane Community College’s Board of Education recently approved a 3.1% tuition hike — raising the cost of a credit to $149 and adding $67.50 for every additional credit beyond 15. As students head into the May election — with four Board of Education seats on the ballot — questions about affordability, access and information are at the forefront.
Manny Schlaeppi, a former University of Oregon student and now a classified employee at LCC, says he spotted some information about the change — but not much.
“Yes, I did see some flyers about that,” Schlaeppi says. “I’m not really a student here anymore — just a classified employee — but I was aware that this is a thing coming.”
Schlaeppi, who identifies as neurodivergent, says his role at LCC has been a good fit.“It’s a great job for me,” he says. “I was fortunate enough to get an education, but I do have some student debt too.”
When asked if the tuition hike might affect who he votes for in the May election, Schlaeppi says he’s still figuring it out.“I don’t have enough information about where these funds would go,” he says. “So I probably need to know a bit more about it. I would tend to want to keep the costs down for students. I mean, I think education is too expensive.”
As for where students can go to find out more about what’s happening on campus, Schlaeppi says he would probably start simple.“There’s usually some kind of pamphlet… maybe a website?” he says.
The Torch has been covering the Board of Education and the upcoming elections. Students looking for more information about the tuition hike, candidate platforms and campus policy changes can visit lcctorch.com/CandidateProfiles.
