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The
Southwest Times
http://www.southwesttimes.com//news.php?id=994
College Tuition, Fees Could more than double
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Tuition and fees for
in-state students at two of the state’s largest schools could more than double
without an increase in state funding, according to documents filed with the
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
Tuition and fees for in-state students at
the University of
Virginia could rise from
$6,821 in 2007-08 to as much as $13,931 in 2013-14.
Four years later, tuition and fees could
reach $17,578, according to the documents, which detail the worst-case scenario
should General Assembly not increase its share of the school’s funding.
The report says out-of-state students
also could see the cost of tuition and fees more than double from $26,071 in
2007-08 to $53,497 in 2017-18.
At Virginia Tech, in-state tuition and
fees could swell from $6,160 this academic year to as much as $13,946 in
2013-14.
The information is included in the
schools’ updated six-year plans. School officials are required to file the plan
with SCHEV every two years as part of the state’s restructuring of higher
education, in which the state’s biggest schools receive more autonomy in
exchange for fewer state resources.
The plans project what would happen
without an increase in state money, as well as with an increase. The amount of
state funding each school receives varies from campus to campus.
‘‘In the six-year plan, we pretty much
give the worst-case scenario and the best-case scenario,’’ said Colette Sheehy,
vice president for management and budget at U.Va. ‘‘In reality, it’ll probably
fall somewhere in between the two.’’
If it received state funding, U.Va.
projects tuition for in-state students would reach a more conservative $12,410
in 2017-18. Out-of-state students would pay $40,733.
It remains to be seen just how much money
lawmakers will earmark for state institutions, but officials are optimistic.
‘‘There will be continued growth in state
funding for higher ed,’’ said retiring state Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr.,
R-Winchester, chairman of the Senate Education and Health Committee.
In April, U.Va.’s board of visitors voted
to raise in-state undergraduate tuition 8.3 percent for the 2007-08 school
year. The board also voted to increase out-of-state tuition 7 percent.
In March, Tech officials voted to
increase in-state undergraduate tuition and fees 6 percent for the 2007-2008
school year. They voted to raise the rates from $19,049 to $19,775 for
nonresidents.
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