Tuition hike, not without a fight

Erica Terrini

News Editor

Seeing no alternative to raising tuition because of state budget cuts, university administration is on shaky ground. However, students plan to cut out the middleman and confront the money matter at the source: Capitol Hill.

Student Government Association members Taylor Whitelow and Tony Lombard are organizing a lobbying event, Rams Day on the Hill, for Wednesday, Feb. 3 to talk with the General Assembly about bills that would affect VCU.

“We’ve been trying to get as many students … to just go down there and talk to (state legislators) about the budget problems that we’re having and how that’s influencing their education,” Lombard said.

John Bennett, the senior vice president for Finance and Administration, said since the start of fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2010, VCU will lose about $65.2 million in state support for its instructional budget under current proposals, forcing the university to reduce faculty, course offerings and raise tuition costs.

Lombard said lobbying for bills and talking with legislators will contribute to a high quality education. The budget cuts directly affect the education process.

“Unfortunately there (are) different pots of money that the university has,” Lombard said. “That’s why we see a lot of building and construction projects and we’re not seeing grants for teachers. That’s where the state money would go to and that’s why we need to get more money from the state.”

About 20 students attended the interest meeting Jan. 27. Lombard said he and Whitelow have been setting up appointments for the students to meet with legislators from the representatives from their districts.

Whitelow said he has been contacting students, legislators and other organizations like the VCU Alumni Association for support.

“Our main purpose is to let our voice be heard,” Whitelow said. “We wanted to let people in the GA know our main concern. Tuition is going up at a substantial rate.”

Recently, House Bill 41 passed the house with a 96-0 vote in favor of the bill. This bill would authorize the Treasury Board to issue bonds of up to $206,870,000 plus financing costs to finance revenue-producing capital projects at institutions of higher education.

Lombard and Whitelow say the passing of HB 41 is good news but they will lobby against House Bills 899, 1007 and 1026, which would establish rules and regulations to increase the number of Virginia domiciles admitted at the institution over five years.

Other bills Whitelow and Lombard plan to lobby against include House Bill 732, which would charge out of state tuition to in state students once they have already completed eight semesters for a four-year degree or 10 semesters for a five-year degree.

Whitelow said the majority of students know about the tuition cost issue but he was still shocked by the amount of students who showed support for their lobbying initiative.

“I believe it’s an injustice to have someone denied their higher education because they can’t afford it,” Whitelow said.