Hutchinson ? As tuition goes up at the state’s six public universities, some community colleges are bracing for enrollment boosts, with a few saying that could lead to some problems.

The Board of Regents last week approved tuition increases to raise an additional $39 million for the 2004-05 academic year. Increases this fall for Kansas residents taking 15 credit hours of undergraduate courses will range from 8.9 percent at Fort Hays State University to 18 percent at the University of Kansas.

Sen. Jim Barone, D-Frontenac, said he expected that with continuing tuition increases, students would go to community colleges — or even consider attending universities in surrounding states.

“If you believe what some community college presidents are saying, we’ve reached that point already,” he said.

Tom Williams, dean of administrative services at Seward County Community College, said, “Anytime they go up, we always see an impact. It may not be significant, but we will see an impact.”

Pratt Community College is among those that may have problems handling more students.

“We are a small community, and we can’t accommodate a lot of out-of-county students without having some housing for them,” Pratt President William Wojciechowski said. “We’re not maxed out in the classroom, but we’re almost maxed out in being able to house the students on the campus.”

Williams said increased enrollment could create scheduling problems.

“That college algebra class you wanted to take at 10 a.m., you may have to take at 7 a.m. or you may have to take it at night. Or, you may have to take it over the Internet,” he said.

This year, legislators appropriated $706 million in general tax revenues for the higher education system for the 2004-05 academic year. That’s only $1.5 million more than they appropriated for the 2001-02 academic year — not enough, according to the regents, to cover higher operating costs.

Although some community colleges also have raised tuition, they’re still not as costly as state universities.

For example, tuition at Hutchinson Community College is $49 per credit hour, compared with $139 per credit hour at Kansas University, the most expensive state school, and $74 per credit hour at Fort Hays State University, the cheapest.

“The increases in tuition certainly have caused many people to look at community colleges to be an economic alternative to a university,” said Hutchinson Community College President Ed Berger. “And it’s certainly a good way for students to get their first two years of education at a lesser cost than what universities cost.”