University tuition projected to increase, accounts for state-mandated salary raises

Katrina Lee, News Editor

VCU administration recently presented a range of tuition increases for 2023 between 3% and 6% for undergraduate and graduate students, following a three-year freeze on tuition.

The proposed tuition increase is based on a state-mandated 5% salary increase for university faculty and for supplemental funding towards the financial aid budget for undergraduate students. The range of increase is dependent on funding the university will receive from the state, which has yet to be approved, according to VCU’s Chief Financial Officer Karol Gray.

“If the state gives us more we could lower tuition increases. If they don’t, then we’re going to have to manage a shortfall on our budget. And we’ll do that,” Gray said.

The budget recommendations include an increase of $145, or 4.8% in mandatory fees, according to the VCU Annual Tuition and Budget Student Forum presentation on March 3. The changes include a $112 increase in the university fee, a $15 increase in the technology fee, a $5 increase in the health service fee, a $5 increase in the academic support services fee and a $4 increase in the library fee.

The university fee, which will increase the most, funds the University Student Commons, recreational sports, academic advising, career services, University Student Counseling and student athlete services, according to a previous report by The Commonwealth Times.

“The university’s very mission-based and very sensitive to putting tuition increases on our students, but we’re in a financial position that we have to retain our faculty,” Gray said.

Gray said faculty members at VCU are underpaid compared to other universities. The average employee salary at VCU in 2020 was $94,907, according to OpenPayrolls. The average salary for VCU professors is between $79,000 and $180,000, according to Glassdoor.

“We want to retain them [university faculty] and recruit them and have them stay and be happy. So we have our strategic plan in spite of the mandated salary increases, we have a strong commitment to increasing faculty salaries,” Gray said.

Students should understand the reasons behind the tuition increases proposed for the 2023 academic year, according to Gray.

Political science professor Amanda Wintersieck said she thinks raises for faculty are “absolutely necessary,” because she said Virginia is an expensive state to live in.

“Richmond happens to be a fairly affordable option if you live in Virginia, but the cost of living in Richmond is about $90,000 a year.” Wintersieck said. “That doesn’t leave a whole lot leftover if you’re making $90,000 a year. So that seems like a lot of money, but the reality is, that just doesn’t go very far for a family of four in Richmond.”

Wintersieck said the publicly available data on the internet of the average salary of university employees is not “transparent,” as she said it only shows data for those who make more than $50,000 a year. There are thousands of employees at VCU who make below the cost of living, according to Wintersieck.

“This is an issue of equity,” Wintersieck said. “There are a lot of people who worked for VCU, and they work hard for VCU. They’re putting in nights and weekends. I’m sure you’ve talked to your financial aid advisor on a Sunday, that is outside the scope of their job. And they are doing that for poverty wages.”

Wintersieck said, ideally, she wishes the university never has to touch student tuition, but that is the “path of least resistance” for meeting the 5% state salary requirement.

“Does the president need a raise? I mean, [President Michael] Rao makes over $600,000 a year,” Wintersieck said. “Is it reasonable to say that some people over a certain threshold who are doing quite well, economically, don’t need a 5% pay increase?

David Allen, the assistant vice president of the Office of Budget Analysis and Financial Planning, said the proposed tuition increase comes after a freeze on tuition because of COVID-19. Under normal circumstances, tuition does increase annually based on the university’s needs.

The Office of Budget Analysis usually focuses on moving funds internally first before looking into increasing tuition for students, according to Allen.

“We try and look at what we can do in order to fund those things without touching tuition. Tuition really becomes the last lever that we look to, in order to move the institution forward,” Allen said.

Sophomore stage management student Hope Fuller said she can respect the reasons for increasing tuition, despite having to eventually pay her parents back for college.

“It definitely adds a little more stress, hearing about tuition rates rising. But I understand that, as long as the money is actually going towards what they said it is,” Fuller said.

Fuller said she felt VCU’s tuition is very fair given the quality of the education, faculty and other aspects of the university.

“I have a couple of friends that go to [Virginia] Tech and from what I remember it was a little more expensive,” Fuller said. “If the tuition was too high I probably would have gone somewhere else.”