Eastern Arizona College will hold the line on tuition, rooms and other fees next year and will raise the price for board.

In its regular meeting Nov. 18, the EAC Governing Board voted to adopt the college's tuition and fee schedules, which are the same as this year. Officials say they are among the lowest in the state.

"Tuition is a bargain at Eastern Arizona College,” said Brent McEuen, the college's executive vice president. According to the tuition schedule, students taking 12 or more credit hours will pay a flat tuition fee of $760.

Students taking one credit hour will pay $65, while those taking two through six credit hours will pay a flat fee of $130.

Students enrolling in seven through 11 credit hours will pay $105 per credit hour for six through 11. For example, a student taking nine credit hours will pay $445, according to the fee schedule.

Residence Hall fees will not change next school year; however, board fees will reflect a 3-percent increase, according to the fee schedule. For example, students who purchased the 19-meal plan this year were charged $1,440 per semester. Next year, the same meal plan will go to $1,485.

In another money matter, the board adopted the college administration's full-time student equivalent projections. A full-time student equivalent is a block of 15 credit hours per semester — whether one student or several students take the credit hours.

The FTSE projection will be used to calculate the college's 2010-2011 expenditure limit capacity during the budget process.

According to the projection, EAC expects its FTSE to increase from 4,250 this year to 4,450 next year. The increase includes additional students at the main campus in Thatcher plus more students in Greenlee County, Gila County and the Arizona Department of Corrections.