TROY, AL (WSFA)- Troy University's Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr. says most universities can't avoid a tuition hike due to the drop in state and federal funds, but he says troy is still finding ways to stay competitive and affordable in tough economic times.

"we're the healthiest we've ever been academically, athletically and I can say to you that we are healthy financially and it's our intent to stay that way," Dr. Hawkins said.

Dr. Hawkins says Troy is staying competitive by adding new programs in all colleges. He says online education has become increasingly important.

"we have at least 20 percent of our students to come and walk across the stage who have never been on this campus before," Dr. Hawkins said.

Dr. Hawkins says he does not see online classes eventually eliminating on campus courses. But he does say troy is on track to becoming a competitive university of the future.

Governor Robert Bentley on Monday announced Alabama’s preliminary unemployment rate for January 2013 is 6.9 percent, marking the second month the state’s unemployment rate is below 7% when factoring in revised figures from December.

January’s rate represents 148,724 unemployed persons, compared to 145,613 in December and 158,040 in January 2012.

In Pike County, the unemployment rate for January was 7.6%, up from 6.5% in December and up from 7.2% a year ago.

“The long-term trend in Alabama’s unemployment rate is encouraging news,” Governor Bentley said.  “We have seen a steady decline in unemployment over time.  Dozens of industries are choosing to build and expand in Alabama, and the result is more people are going back to work.  There is still much work left to be done, however, until Alabama reaches full employment, and our efforts to recruit more jobs will continue.”

The rate is up slightly from December 2012’s revis

Refunds totaling over $13 million may be waiting for an estimated 16,000 Alabama taxpayers who did not file a federal income tax return for 2009, the Internal Revenue Service announced today. However, to collect the money, a return for 2009 must be filed with the IRS no later than Monday, April 15, 2013.

The IRS estimates that half the potential refunds for 2009 are more than $565.

Some people may not have filed because they had too little income to require filing a tax return even though they had taxes withheld from their wages or made quarterly estimated payments. In cases where a return was not filed, the law provides most taxpayers with a three-year window of opportunity for claiming a refund. If no return is filed to claim a refund within three years, the money becomes property of the U.S. Treasury.