The Lake Michigan College Board of Trustees has approved the college’s operating and capital budget for Fiscal Year 2026.
Trustees at a meeting this week adopted the budget, which Vice President of Enrollment, Marketing, and Governmental Relations Al Pscholka tells us is more modest than one might assume for a college.
“The community college budget is probably similar to a large K-12 district, about $44 million,” Pscholka said. “We’ve been growing. So, we grew 10% in the fall, 20% in the summer. We’re serving a lot more students, but yet we’re very affordable and keeping a line on spending.”
So, what are the biggest expenses in LMC’s budget?
“65% is labor costs, and then you’ve got services and buildings and training and all of that. But labor costs, like most educational institutions, is the biggest part of the spend.”
Pscholka says LMC continues to keep costs low for students while growing programs.
The budget shows the largest source of revenue for LMC is property taxes, bringing in an estimated $22 million in 2026. That’s followed by tuition and fees at $12.1 million, various appropriations at $6.6 million, and “other,” which includes donations, at $2.7 million. The budget anticipates spending slightly less than the revenues for the year.
