As years pass, Lakeland College tuition goes up little by little to pay for the many expenses around campus. The increase in the tuition is small but has students looking at their payment summary twice.

This year, Lakeland raised annual tuition from $22,950 to $24,090. In 2013, tuition was raised from $21,242 to $22,950, which was a raise that had not been seen at the college since before 2008, according to a historical chart of tuition, fee and board costs.

This year, Lakeland tuition has gone up by 4.9 percent, which is enough to raise questions like, “Is Lakeland still the cheapest private college in Wisconsin?”

Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Carole Robertson explains that the tuition raise this year was strictly due to utilities, grounds and food expenses. Other things around campus need repairs as well. Robertson gives the example of Walter A. Kruger Hall (WAK), which was in need of some new windows over the summer. Currently, WAK has one side completed with new windows.

WAK. was constructed in 1917, making it difficult to replace the windows. Not many construction companies specialize in replacing old windows, so workers were hired from outside of the Sheboygan County area.

Along with WAK’s new windows, Verhulst Hall needed a reroofing, the John Esch Library had an interior upgrade, the cafeteria in Bossard Hall got a paint job and the computer science lab needed new computers.

Future projects are aimed at upgrading the wrestling facilities and the baseball diamond to meet NCAA standards. Robertson said this in turn will cost the college a lot of money.

The school does not receive funds from the government or from the state since Lakeland is a private institution. Lakeland gets the majority of its money from the student tuition and donors.

Lakeland receives donations from family organizations such as the Younger family and the Nash family

“Donations have been held back in recent times [though] due to the economy, but we [Lakeland] are being very aggressive for donations in recent times,” said Robertson.

Amongst private colleges in Wisconsin, Lakeland is now the second cheapest in the state, losing its former title to Bellin College. Lakeland held the cheapest private college in Wisconsin title for four years.

However, Robertson explains, this will not affect students coming to school here. Students and their families will choose where they want to go to school.

“I don’t think it is fair to the commuter students.” said Matt Derse, junior criminal justice major. “We do not use all of the resources that on-campus students use.”

“It is unfortunate for those who want a good job in the future [but] will be stuck in debt for the remainder of their lives,” said Callie Olson, junior religion major.

The tuition price will continue to rise for Lakeland, as it will for any college whether technical, public or private. Lakeland’s administration still wish to keep their tuition as affordable as possible.

The college will continue looking for ways to reach out to the community to accept new donors and sponsors to help in any way that they can. How much the tuition is going to rise is unknown, but one thing is for sure; the college will keep looking for ways to keep its tuition affordable enough for the students who want an education at Lakeland.