Tuition freeze is good news

Inter Lake editorial

Flathead Valley Community College provided some good news last week when trustees decided not to raise tuition.

The decision to keep tuition at this year's rate came despite a budget committee recommendation to raise course costs 6 percent.

Following the past couple of years of double-digit tuition increases at FVCC, the tuition freeze is a welcome move during a time of economic hardship in Northwest Montana.

The college is particularly valuable in these days of high unemployment when many laid-off workers are seeking retraining.

Consider that in Flathead and Lincoln counties - which provide 98 percent of FVCC's students - there are almost 7,500 people out of work. That's a substantial pool of people in need of college services.

Not having to deal with higher tuition costs is a boon for students, some of whom "are just trying to figure out how to feed their families," in the words of college President Jane Karas.

The Family Forestry Expo is in its 20th year, and it has proven to be a unique event that the Flathead Valley's residents should be proud of.

This area, after all, is surrounded by forests, wildlands, lakes and rivers. Over 20 years, the Expo has taught thousands of fifth-graders and the general public about these ecological systems and how they are managed in up-close and entertaining ways.

It's an annual opportunity that most people, especially those who live in towns and cities, might not otherwise have. Those who have never been to Expo should give it a whirl this weekend at the Trumbull Creek Educational Forest west of Columbia Falls.