Barton Community College Vice President of Administration Mark Dean projects a $1.2 million budget shortfall for 2025-2026 that a fall tuition increase won’t cover. He told college trustees Tuesday that the fall tuition rate is set and a second increase next spring is not advised. Instead, the college may dip into cash reserves if needed.
This was one of several topics discussed Tuesday at the BCC Board of Trustees study session for June.
Barton’s tuition and fees for in-county students this fall is $117 per credit-hour, up $2 from the 2024-2025 school year. The rates are $50 for some high school students, $131 for instate students outside of Barton County, $160 for out-of-state, $165 for Barton Online, $146 for Fort Riley, Fort Leavenworth and Grandview Plaza, and $223 for international students.
Increases for the fall are expected to add $456,729 next year. They were approved in February.
Meanwhile, Dean is looking at next year’s budget. Some information isn’t available yet, such as property valuations. Most of the estimated $1.2 million shortfall is from reduced state aid.
Federal work-study money may also be on the chopping block, Barton President Dr. Marcus Garstecki said.
“We’re facing some challenging times, financially,” Garsteki said. With that in mind, the college may not immediately fill vacancies created as employees resign.
“If we can leave a position open, that’s what we intend to do,” he said.
Garstecki explained why a second tuition increase in the spring is not advised.
“Mid-year tuition increases are rough on students,” he said. Their budgets and financial aid are usually done one year at a time.
Mike Johnson, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said the added revenue from another increase would not be enough to justify that. “We’ll look at using reserves if we need to.”
Insurance rates down
Meanwhile, the board had good news concerning property, liability and workers comp insurance, which is expected to be lower than last year. Barton is a member of KICS (Kansas Insurance Cooperative for Schools). The premium last year was $701,682 and the premium for 2025-2026 will be around $663,000.
Cyber-security update
Chief Information Officer Renee Demel gave the annual report on cyber-security as required by the Gramm-Leach-Billey Act (GBLA). This requires monitoring 15 safeguards and because Barton has met all 15, “we’re considered low-risk level,” she said. Tandem Cyber conducted the assessment that evaluated Barton’s compliance with the GBLA.
In addition to the 15 GBLA safeguards, there is a longer set of Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) to monitor. There are 153 of these safeguards and 135 are applicable to the college. Barton has met 133 of the 135.
The one safeguard not met is creating an “allowlist” for authorized scripts, to ensure that only authorized scripts are allowed to execute. The other concerns automating data retention standards to help ensure that sensitive data is not kept longer than necessary.
“We’re working on these,” Demel said. In conclusion, “The recommendations covered will ensure that Barton complies with critical cyber-security controls meant to protect the scoped sensitive data.”
