NORMAL — Next year, Heartland Community College students could see the biggest tuition increase they have yet seen.

Over recent years, tuition increases have been as low as $2 per credit hour and as high as $10 per credit hour.

“I think we’ll have to go beyond that now,” college President Jon Astroth told the college’s board of trustees Tuesday.

The board plans to discuss a tuition increase at its January retreat.

Students now pay $95 per credit hour, $88 in tuition and $7 in fees. They likely could manage a $25-per-credit-hour increase phased in over the next few years — “as long as it’s not all at once,” said Kathy Grimes of Bloomington, the new student trustee.

Late or absent state payments are forcing the college to look at borrowing from its working cash fund and reserves and increasing tuition, Astroth said.

State funding makes up about 10 percent of the college’s $25.5 million operating budget. Property taxes, tuition and reserves provide the rest.

Grimes said students could accept an increase better if it is clearly explained and if there are benefits associated with it, including increasing the percentage of full-time faculty and adding bus service.

Currently the total cost of a credit hour at Heartland is $400, but students pay less than 25 percent of that, Astroth said. The maximum possible increase still would keep the students’ portion of the costs to 33 percent, he said.

The board could vary tuition depending on the program. Nursing, which is more expensive to deliver, could have a higher tuition, for example, he said.

The state funding situation also means that the college’s goal of having 25 percent of its budget in cash reserves won’t be attainable in the near future, he said.