GRAND JUNCTION A $5-per-credit-hour tuition increase for Mesa State College students is still a possibility, but a not a definite.

Mesa State Board of Trustees members discussed the $5 boost, which would help the college raise faculty salaries, for the second time this school year at Wednesday’s board meeting at the college. The proposal originally came up in November.

Board members chose to defer a decision until their May meeting, after the state specifies how much money they will give the college for the 2008-2009 school year, said Dana Nunn, a spokeswoman for the college.

The tuition increase would aim to collect up to $2.3 million from students, the amount needed to bring Mesa State faculty salaries to the current state average for professor pay. The measure has the right aim but is a “moving target,” said Mesa State President Tim Foster.

“It gets us to the average (for now), and then we’ll see,” Foster said.

Mesa State faculty on average make 96.4 percent of the average salary paid to professors in Colorado, according to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. That’s after an average 6 percent raise for faculty in 2006-2007. In 2005-2006, Mesa State faculty made 95.1 percent of the average.

The trustees also had an option, which received no vocal support, to increase tuition by $50 per credit hour for health sciences students only. Health sciences is one of the college’s more expensive departments to offer.

Only increasing tuition for health science students could lead other departments to follow the leader and raise tuition for their students anyway, said Associated Student Government President Adam Davenport. It’s better to spread out the cost of raising teacher pay to all students, he said.

“We realize something has to be done on campus about faculty retention, and students are willing to bear that,” Davenport said.

Reach Emily Anderson at eanderson@gjfreepress.com.