Board of Visitors Executive Committee approves tuition increase for next fiscal year

Despite this semester’s tuition increase, VCU students can expect to pay more for tuition next semester.

The Executive Committee of VCU’s Board of Visitors last Thursday approved a tuition increase for students to compensate for a decrease in state funding.

“These are difficult times,” said VCU President Eugene Trani, in an article on Richmond.com, a local online news source. “We’re going to put as much help as we can out there for students.”

In-state undergraduate students can expect to pay $651 more for tuition and fees beginning this fall, which is an increase of 15.4 percent.

In-state graduate students will see a $926 increase, while out-of-state students will pay an additional $2,025.

Educational and General programs and auxiliary enterprises constitute 53 percent of the university’s total budget, and are the two areas most affected by student tuition and fees. Educational and General programs include instructional programs and support services at the university.

In the 2002 fiscal year, 64 percent of the Educational and General budget came from state funds, while 31 percent came from tuition and fees.

According to the board’s tuition and fees budget report, general funds will provide 47 percent of the university’s budget in the 2004 fiscal year, while tuition and student fees will now fund 44 percent.

To help counteract the state budget crisis and secure funds for the university, VCU plans to:

* increase tuition,

* focus on out-of-state recruitment,

* increase research funding to achieve $200 million per year,

* attain higher levels of private giving,

* pursue entrepreneurial initiatives,

* achieve operational efficiencies and enhance the environment for students, faculty and staff and

* ensure the future of the VCU Health System.

The tuition increase also will generate an additional $750,000 for hiring adjunct faculty and providing additional financial aid for students.

“We went too far in terms of classes not being available,” Trani said, in the Richmond.com article. “What we’ve done is put as much as we can into instruction.”

The Educational and General program will receive an additional $13 million for instructional expenditures, such as new course offerings, the Board of Visitors’ report said. Other areas, such as public service and institutional support, will receive less money than during the 2003 fiscal year.

Other universities, colleges and institutions across the state have made or plan to make similar increases in tuition and student fees for the 2004 fiscal year. The University of Virginia raised tuition to $5,964, an increase of $984. Students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will pay $5,095, an increase of $759.