For the second year in a row, the Flathead Valley Community College board of trustees has decided not to raise the college’s tuition.

A proposed rate increase of $1.40 per credit would have raised tuition by $19.60 a semester for full-time students taking 14 or more credits.

President Jane Karas, citing the good position the college was in financially, asked the trustees at their meeting Monday to consider keeping tuition unchanged for the 2014-15 school year.

“We have been very fiscally conservative,” she said. “So I would recommend not increasing tuition.”

The board voted to raise student fees by 60 cents a credit, or $8.40 per student per semester. That did not include the $45 health center fee, which remained static.

A similar freeze on tuition was approved last year.

The board was behind keeping cost increases to a minimum.

“I think it’s an amazing day when we can not increase tuition,” trustee Mark Holston said.

In the past, the board had voted to increase tuition by small chunks every year instead of a large burden falling on students all at once.

This vote came immediately after an audit report where the college had a surplus in funding for the quarter, good news for the board as enrollment levels head back to pre-recession levels.

Brad Eldridge, the director of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning, said the move was a slight break from the norm.

“Since 2008-2009 school years, we’ve basically increased right around the inflation rate,” he said. “As we looked at the budget, we thought we could be fine without [the tuition raise]. The budget is in a good enough place that we didn’t need it.”

In-district tuition for full-time students is $1,380.40 plus $492.80 in required student fees.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.