Worcester addresses rising costs of college

(Katie Daly, NECN: Worcester, MA) - Students are stretching to make ends meet, and a college education may soon be out of reach for many of them for the first time in years. To that end, a meeting held today determined how area colleges could stay in business without raising costs to students. The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education met Thursday at Worcester State College as government both at the state and local level wrestles with the economic down turn. "We're eager to balance issues of affordability with issues of the state where our revenues are short." To that end, the board voted to keep tuition rates for state and community colleges the same as they've been since fiscal year 1999. The states Secretary of Education says in this economy its important that students aren't priced out of these institutions. The governor is deeply concerned. Higher Ed is becoming more and more important for people to secure a future." After today's meeting state colleges were left to determine their fees for the next fiscal year. But there is one city councilor thinks Worcester should look to students to pay it's own budget gap. Councilor at large Michael Germain believes the city should have the ability to tax dorm rooms. He says the city could gain as much as 20 million dollars of valuable revenue as the city struggles with cuts and potential lay offs.