Lower tuition wanted 
By Rachana Dixit, news editor 
Posted on February 15, 2007

The Virginia House of Delegates Higher Education Subcommittee recently proposed to decrease state funding if state institutions did not agree to keep tuition increases at a minimum.

Higher Education Subcommittee member Del. Joe May, R-33rd District, said the proposal was created about a month ago. The situation, he said, was that the General Assembly was providing state institutions with more funding than in years past, in hopes that tuition rates would decrease. Despite this, costs went up at almost all state-supported schools in Virginia.

“The expectation was [more funding] would allow tuition to have minimal or no increases,” May said. “Instead, they went up rather dramatically.”

The proposal does allow for a “reasonable increase” in tuition rates, which would be lower than 5 percent, but May said the 18 and 19 percent tuition increases the subcommittee discovered were too high.

Local officials have expressed approval of the proposal as well. Del. Matthew Lohr, R-26th District, said, “It’s a great idea. We have to make sure schools are accountable and that they’re managing their money in the best possible way.”

Lohr, who graduated from Virginia Tech 10 years ago, said he has always watched college tuition rates, especially since his wife graduated from JMU with a master’s degree two years ago.

“We noted every semester that tuition went up,” Lohr said.

Although many agree with the proposal, legislation such as this does not come without risks.

Charles King, JMU’s senior vice president of administration and finance, said the university may not generate enough revenue for the university to operate if tuition rates are decreased before the end of this fiscal year.

King said tuition costs are influenced by state mandates like salary increases and fringe benefit rates, energy and utility costs, facility costs and market costs.

 “The big risk is the legislation says the revenues necessary for this program have to be certified by the governor at the end of the current fiscal year,” King said. “That means if we set our tuition to the required amount of 4.25 percent this March, and then the revenue don’t materialize on June 30, 2007, we will be short in the revenue we need to operate the university.” 

For the 2006-07 budget, the university generated $176,552,101 in total revenue. Approximately 59 percent of that, or $103,397,450, came from tuition alone. General funds from the state accounted for approximately 40 percent of total revenue, or about $71,084,352. 

But, King said, if the university received $4.2 million in new general funds from the General Assembly, tuition rates could be kept at the proposal’s standards. 

“Hopefully the state would provide adequate general funds to minimize the cost of education for students attending the university,” King said.  

JMU’s 2007 summer school tuition rates have been set using the university’s six-year funding model, which includes revenue and expenditure projections. In-state undergraduate students will be required to pay $187 per credit hour, a $43-per-credit hour increase from summer 2006. Rates for out-of-state undergraduates are set at $556 per credit hour, which shows a $68 per credit hour increase from the previous year.  

Tuition and fees for the 2007-08 academic year have not yet been determined.  

If the proposal does become law, May said these changes would not be instantaneous; the General Assembly would monitor tuition increases as necessary. In addition, May said universities may have to redistribute funding from other areas so they can feasibly run on their current operating costs and abide by these rules.  

“[Universities] have a fixed amount of money to work with,” he said. “Universities have the same attributes as a large business, and they have to operate within a set budget.”