Suffolk County legislators on Tuesday unanimously approved a $221.9 million Suffolk County Community College budget, which includes a 3.7% increase in tuition for 2025-26.

It marks the third consecutive year of tuition hikes after the cost remained flat for three years at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are grateful to the county, to the legislature, for consistently increasing their support for the college every year," said Edward Bonahue, the college's president, in an interview.

The overall budget will increase 4.9% compared with 2024-25 and include an additional $1 million in county contribution drawn from the general fund in its 2026 operating budget, according to budget documents. The county’s contribution will climb to just under $50 million for 2025-26.

Bonahue said the additional funding from the legislature is "a vote of confidence in the job that we're doing."

Full-time resident tuition will rise by $220 to $6,050. The cost of a single credit will increase by $9 to $252.

Nonresident tuition will go up from $11,660 to $12,100 per year.

The college’s board of trustees previously approved its budget in April and college officials discussed it with lawmakers during the legislature’s May 28 Education Committee meeting.

Bonahue cited rising costs for health insurance and the need to reduce the budget deficit as reasons for the tuition increase during the committee meeting.

Increasing tuition was “really the only option for us that continues to reduce our reliance on reserves and moves us closer to a balanced budget,” he said.

The college currently has about $22.5 million in reserves, officials said. That’s down from a high of $44 million at the end of 2021-22, a spike attributed to federal stimulus funds amid the pandemic, according to a report analyzing the budget completed by the legislature’s Budget Review Office.

Reserves are estimated to decrease to about $18.6 million by the end of 2025-26, a figure that’s in line with pre-pandemic levels, according to the report.

Enrollment at the two-year college began steadily declining after 2010-11 and dropped significantly during the pandemic. Enrollment started to rebound in 2022-23 and the projected enrollment of 13,897 for 2025-26 is about an 8% increase compared with four years earlier, according to the report.

Sara Gorton, interim vice president for financial affairs, attributed the rise in enrollment to several initiatives, such as new academic programs, “more pointed enrollment campaigns” and a centralized call center that can readily answer questions.

“Our academic affairs and student affairs and really, the whole college, take seriously our role in enrollment and retention,” she told legislators at the May meeting.

On Monday, the Nassau County Legislature approved a $185 million Nassau Community College budget that increases tuition by 3.3%.

Suffolk had the highest tuition in the state for 2024-25 among community colleges. Nassau Community College was third.

Average statewide tuition for community colleges in 2024-25 was $5,406, according to the Suffolkbudget review office report.