Virginia Tech has joined the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University and other universities in giving the ol’ raspberry to Governor Bob McDonnell’s request to hold down tuition increases to the rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index.
Virginia undergraduates will pay 4.9% more in tuition next school year, while out-of-staters will pay 5.0% more. The inflation rate is running around 2% annually.
A special “funds for the future” program will defray some of the increase for lower-income students, reports the Roanoke Times. But if a household with two working parents is making $100,000 or more, the family is out of luck.
Much of the Board of Visitor’s discussion revolved around whether the university has the pricing power to stick it more aggressively to out-of-state students. Suzanne Obenshain, wife of Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, argued that the board should ease up on rate increases for in-state students and shift more of the cost to out-of-staters. Tech officials argued that out-of-state enrollment dropped when significant tuition increases were instituted.
Tech enrolls about 6,400 out-of-state students a year. Under Sunday’s increases, out-of-state students will pay about 156 percent of what it costs to educate them, in effect subsidizing in-state students, reports the Roanoke Times. Resident students pay 61 percent of the cost of their education. In a “compromise,” Tech officials agreed to bump up the out-of-state increase from 4.9% to 5.0%.
The board also discussed “differential pricing” — charging more for degrees like engineering and architecture that require more expensive infrastructure, more expensive faculty and/or lead to more remunerative careers. Vice Rector George Nolen, a retired Siemens Corp. executive, contended that a Tech degree in engineering is under-priced from a market standpoint. Engineering students can afford to take out bigger loans because they’ll have higher-paying jobs when they graduate.
Judging from the Roanoke Times, one topic not up for discussion was how to hold down costs. The entire debate revolved around how to squeeze more blood from a turnip. Under today’s higher-ed mantra, the poor get financial aid, the rich don’t need it, and the middle-class just has to bend over and take it.
— JAB
