2,200 Arizona student borrowers may receive $54 million in debt relief; 12,400 will receive over $3.3 million in restitution

The Arizona Attorney General’s office announced January 20, 2022 that thousands of Arizona student borrowers are expected to receive over $54 million in debt relief because of the settlement of an eight-year-old lawsuit with Navient.  Navient, once called Sallie Mae, was alleged to have used unfair, predatory, and deceptive student loan servicing practices.  Navient has denied the allegations.

It is also anticipated that 12,400 Arizonans will receive over $3.3 million in restitution under the proposed court settlement, according to Arizona’s Attorney General’s office.

In a statement, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said that “It’s disappointing how Navient took advantage of distressed loan borrowers who were simply trying to get an education to better their lives.” 

Navient is one of the nation’s largest loan services and the settlement still needs court approval. 

Of particular interest to Arizona, because is has so many for-profit schools, is the claim that  Navient provided predatory subprime private loans to students at these schools with low graduation rate while knowing many of those borrowers could not replay them.

Source:  Arizona Republic, January 20, 2022.

District Governing Board  unanimously approved  discount at its monthly Board meeting on Tuesday

High school students taking online courses from Yavapai Community College.

At its meeting last Tuesday, the Yavapai Community College Governing Board unanimously approved a 50% discount for high school students who are taking  online courses offered by the College.   The 50% tuition discount reduces  the high school student tuition payable to Yavapai Community College to about $50 per credit for a tier one course  (lab and market-based classes prices will differ).

In the College’s recent press release on this subject, president Dr. Lisa Rhine said that “Education should be accessible and affordable for everyone, and at Yavapai College, we strive to make that a reality.  High school students who take college classes get a significant jumpstart on completing their educational goals at a faster, higher success rate.”

In addition to the new concurrent enrollment discount, the Community College will offer  discounts for:

• Senior Citizens 65+ (50% discount)
• Out of State Athletes (50% discount)
• High School Students taking Dual Credit Classes — college credit classes taught at high schools by high school teachers  ( about 90% discount)

Source:  Press release by Yavapai Community College authored by reporter Tyler Rumsey, November 9, 2021   https://www.yc.edu/v6/news/2021/11/post.html.

Chevalier argues that a portion of the $3 million Fed funds for Covid-19 relief surplus held by the College should be used to cover certain future expenses rather than increase student tuition

The Yavapai Community College Governing Board met Tuesday, October 19 to decide whether to increase student tuition for the 2022-23 academic year. The early decision on tuition is made  necessary because the College  begins to “package” financial aid material in November of this year.

 After about a 20 minute discussion, the Board voted 3-2 to approve the Administration’s request of an average  3% tuition increase covering all three tiers of classes offered at the College.  Third District Governing Board representative Paul Chevalier and Fourth District representative Chris Kuknyo voted against the increase.

Mr. Chevalier argued that unless there were restrictions on the use of the approximate $3 million of “surplus” unspent Covid-19 Federal relief funds now in the College’s hands, a portion of that money should be applied to the budget rather than increase tuition for 2022-2023.  The Administration responded to Mr. Chevalier asserting that it was not certain about whether a portion of the $3 million could be used to cover the tuition increase. Moreover, it  felt it was a bad idea to use one-time excess funds to cover annual operating costs.

 The Community College estimates the increased tuition will result in additional revenue of about $268,000 from that source of unrestricted income.

You may view a portion of the discussion about the budget and the need to increase tuition in the edited video clip below.

College considering employee base salary increase of 2%, Employee bonus program adding  $764,000, and employee benefits to increase by 5%  – Special Initiatives and Promise program will cost an additional  $950,000.  County Property Tax levy rate hike will probably be asked for by the Administration in May 2022

The Yavapai Community College Administration rolled out its first budget estimates for the 2022-23 academic year at the October 19, 2021 Governing Board meeting.  The purpose was to provide overall estimates of changes in the 2022-23 budget while specifically setting the tuition rate at this meeting.

During the Administration’s presentation, it said  that it will most likely be asking for a 2% increase in the County primary property tax levy at the  May 2022 Governing Board meeting.  It will also most likely be asking to increase staff and faculty base salaries automatically by 2% and establish a 2% employee bonus program it calls “gainshare.” 

Its Special Initiatives and Promise programs will cost an additional $950,000.

The Administration noted that because enrollment has declined by 11% the State of Arizona’s contribution to the College is anticipated to go down by $282,000. Fourth District Representative Chris Kuknyo inquired about  the State providing additional funding to the Community College because it had received so much Covid money  from the Federal Government.  The Administration agreed that was something the Community Colleges could lobby for. 

The only final decision made at the Governing Board meeting regarding finances was establishing a tuition rate increase of on average three percent per credit hour.

Although the tuition rate is set by Board action at this meeting, the remaining information supplied the Board is all based on assumptions.  The final budget will be approved by the Board in May 2022 and some of the assumptions and requests for funding various portions of the budget may change by that date.

AG may, however, says the Arizona Supreme Court, sue where colleges and universities have granted in-state tuition for students without legal status

Arizona’s Attorney General  sued the Arizona Board of Regents in September 2017, alleging the regents had disregarded  a constitutional provision that requires  state universities to be as close to free as possible. According to the lawsuit, over a 15-year-period  the regents had raised tuition from about $2,600 a year to as much as $12,228 a year for in-state students.

The court rejected this claim saying that if it allowed the Attorney General to proceed with the action, it would “mark a significant expansion in the Attorney General’s power that neither the constitution nor legislature contemplated.”

In a second claim in the lawsuit, the Attorney General had challenged the ability of universities and college to permit  in-state tuition for students without legal status.   In August 2019 the Arizona Board of Regents voted 8-0, with state Superintendent Kathy Hoffman to extend a tuition rate that’s 150% of in-state tuition to undocumented students. The rate was first created by the Regents for students who had legal status in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

In the spring  semester  2019 it was estimated by the University of Arizona that  329 students at Arizona State University paid the 150% rate, called the “Non-Resident Tuition Rate for Arizona High School Graduates.” That rate is about $16,000.

It is   not clear how many students paid  the 150% rate after the change. However,  each year about 2,000 unauthorized immigrants graduate from Arizona high schools, the tenth-most in the U.S., according to a report released in May by the Migration Policy Institute.

The Arizona Supreme Court said the Attorney General did have the authority to bring an action against the universities and colleges if it involved charging  in-state tuition for students without legal status.  The court pointed out that a state statute specifically provided  the attorney general with power to “recover illegally paid public monies.”

In a ruling a year ago, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled against Maricopa Community Colleges on tuition rates for DACA students, saying they did not qualify for in-state tuition. State universities, following the community colleges, were granting in-state tuition to DACA recipients.

An estimated  2,000 or more DACA recipients attended community colleges in Maricopa County, and nearly 300 were enrolled at a state university in Arizona when the ruling was issued. Once the court handed down the decision,  the Maricopa Community Colleges saw a  sharp decline in their DACA enrollments.

Sources:   Maria Polletta, Arizona Republic story published Nov 25, 2020; Rachel Leingang, The Republic | azcentral.com, August 22, 2019.

Other revenue sources and budget reallocation should offset loss of about $900,000 in tuition because of decreased enrollment and $1.8 million in other new expenses

Yavapai Community College will not  increase student tuition for the 2022  fiscal year.  It also anticipates not asking for a County tax levy increase in the 2022 fiscal year.  This information came from Vice President Clint Ewell at the October Governing Board hearing when the question of tuition  for the 2022 fiscal  year was discussed and voted upon. The Governing Board approved his recommendation that tuition not be increased.   

Dr. Ewell said that the College will receive about  $900,000 in new construction property taxes  in fiscal year 2022 and that amount should offset the loss of tuition revenue caused by a decrease in enrollment.  He said  that the College should be able to identify and  reallocate funds within the existing budget  to make up for an addition $1.8 million in new expenses.  He noted that there was a chance of additional revenue that might help out with the $1.8 million but did not elaborate on the sources of those funds.

In his presentation, Dr. Ewell noted that the fiscal 2022 budget   currently includes a 3% salary/fringe increase for staff costing about $1.28 million.  It also includes $220,000 for market adjustment of salaries.

Note that the final overall budget is usually approved in May 2021 for the fiscal year 2022  following  a public meeting where it is presented.  The Governing Board only voted this October on the tuition recommendation; it did not formally vote on the tax levy.   

You may view a two-minute clip of Vice President Ewell’s budget presentation below.  You may view his entire presentation at the District Governing Board web site by clicking here. 

ASU Students will  begin to receive from $500 to $6,000 of the $32 million received from federal government as direct student aid; Yavapai began distribution to its students as soon as they became available

Arizona State University announced Friday, July 10 that it will begin to award from $500 to $6,000 of the $32 million it received from the government as direct aid to students.  The funds came from the CARES Act.

ASU’s announcement comes nearly two months after the state’s other large universities began CARES Act fund distribution. All had paid out some of the CARES Act funding to their spring semester students. 

Yavapai Community College began distributing funds under the CARES Act to assist students as soon as the funds became available in the spring. (See Blog posting of May 14.)

Source:  Arizona Republic, July 11, 2020  story by Grace Oldham and Rachel Leingang.

Sets tuition at a flat rate of $1020 for Arizona’s residents taking 12 credits or more per semester

The Maricopa Community College Governing Board at its  meeting on Tuesday, June 9  rejected a proposal that would have reduced tuition for the fall and spring semesters by 25%. Rather, it approved a flat tuition rate of $1020 for Arizona residents taking 12 credits or more per semester. In addition, it approved allowing out-of-state students to pay the in-state tuition rate if they sign up to take six or fewer credit hours per semester.

The Board also approved spending up to $13.5 million in scholarships to attract students.  Finally, it agreed to commit  up to $500,000 to run a marketing campaign to try to encourage more  students to enroll for the fall  and spring  semesters.

Named as a  2020 Gold Scholar to  the Coca-Cola Academic Team

A story appearing in the April 21 Camp Verde Bugle written by reporter Bill Helm featured Celeena Johnson.  She is a student at Yavapai Community College who was named as a 2020 Gold Scholar for the Coca-Cola Academic Team. (Also see Blog story of Sunday, April 19.)

Earlier this year, Yavapai Community College announced that  Ms. Johnson was among 12 students who had earned lucrative All-Arizona Academic Team scholarships. On April 15 it announced that  that  three of the 12 were also named to the 2020 Coca-Cola Academic Team. Ms. Johnson was one of the three. She was selected from a pool of more than  2,000 other students for this award. 

Ms. Johnson is a  2018 graduate of Camp Verde High School.  She told Mr. Helm that she “plans to attend Northern Arizona University in the fall.”  She also told him that  the recent recognition means an extra $1,500 that she can spend for “extra academic fees such as textbooks and travel costs.”  Her tuition was  already paid for when she was initially selected as member of the All-USA Academic Team.

She is an “aspiring first-grade teacher and library program coordinator.”  By the time  she  graduated from Camp Verde High School, she had accumulated  36 college credits and a culinary arts certificate. She told Helm that she plans to graduate from Yavapai Community College this spring with an Associate’s degree.

Students carefully evaluated, along with their past grades, before deemed ready to simultaneously handle the responsibilities of college and high school

A must read is Sedona Red Rock newspaper reporter Alexandra Wittenberg’s February 14 story about ten Sedona Red Rock High School ninth graders already starting Yavapai Community College.  She describes a new Early College Program launched January 6 at the high school that will allow 10 students to complete all 34 credits from Yavapai College needed to obtain an Associate’s degree. They will accomplish this while obtaining enough high school credits for high school graduation. 

The first ten in the program were carefully evaluated, along with their past grades, before they were deemed ready to handle the responsibilities of college classes as well as their high school ones.

The program is attractive for a number of reasons, one of which is cost.  Because of its partnership with Yavapai Community College, “ the school district pays for the majority of the tuition, with the high schooler’s family only having to pay for books and student’s fees. However, if the student doesn’t finish the program, then the family is responsible for paying the school district back.”

To read in full Alexandra Wittenberg’s February 14 story in the Red Rock Newspaper please click here.