Telford Rural Polytechnic has confirmed it will keep its 2009 academic fees at this year's levels because of its strong financial position.
The Telford council has unanimously agreed to leave 2009 fees unchanged for those studying on campus, while international students will only be charged an extra 2.35%.
Chief executive Jonathan Walmisley said it was reluctant to impose any fee hikes unless absolutely necessary.
The council also realised most on-campus students were younger and fee rises put financial pressure on them when they should be concentrating on their studies and enjoying their Telford experience.
"We can afford not to increase fees and we have decided to take that approach," he said yesterday.
An on-campus student, living in a hostel, pays between $5500 and $7500 for full board and food, depending on whether they stay there five or seven days a week.
International student fees will rise from $7000 to about $7150 while students studying through correspondence will pay an extra 5% in fees because those charges had been "unusually low" for some time, Mr Walmisley said.
Keeping most fees at existing levels was rare in the tertiary sector but Mr Walmisley said its healthy balance sheet meant it had the flexibility and the ability to keep fees down.
"We don't need the additional funding [from increasing fees] and it has always been our policy to encourage access to tertiary education and keeping fees the same helps achieve that objective."
Its finance committee is budgeting for a $1.03 million surplus for the 2008 financial year.
Telford boasts $8.6 million in working capital with term deposits of just under $10 million.
Meanwhile, the council has approved two major items of expenditure, in principle.
It has approved a $620,000 upgrade of its equine unit facilities including a covered arena.
This project still needs to confirm the siting of some of the new facilities before it goes ahead.
Mr Walmisley said extra classroom space had also been approved but the council first wanted to see fresh cost estimates at its next meeting.
