Across the board, Va. colleges are increasing tuition and fees

To the rising costs of gasoline and food, add higher education in Virginia, especially at two of its bigger and better-known universities.

In-state undergraduate students attending Virginia Tech this fall will see their tuition and mandatory fees jump 10.8 percent, the largest increase in at least five years. The same costs for out-of-state students will rise 5.3 percent.

Tech officials pointed to rising energy costs, additional faculty to handle enrollment growth, and increased safety features such as more police and emergency warning systems since the mass shootings of April 16, 2007, that killed 32 students and faculty. The Blacksburg university's Board of Visitors approved the increases Monday.

The University of Virginia on Friday approved a 9.4 percent increase for in-state undergraduates, to $9,300 in annual tuition and mandatory fees, and a 6.7 percent increase for those coming from outside the state, to $29,600.

Nine of Virginia's colleges and universities, including Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University, have approved tuition and fee increases starting in the fall, and at least five others are contemplating increases when their governing boards meet this month.

Nationally, in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities rose 6.6 percent in 2007, according to the College Board, a nonprofit association.

The College of William and Mary will tackle the issue on Saturday, waiting, as did several other universities, until after the General Assembly's veto session.

Virginia Tech's tuition and mandatory fees will total $8,198 a year for full-time in-state undergraduates - $801 more than this year - and $20,825 for out-of-state students, a $1,050 increase.

"Maintaining quality of a Virginia Tech education drives our decisions," President Charles Steger said in a statement. "The board reluctantly approved these increases against the backdrop of erosion in state funding."

Virginia Tech's budget was cut by $10 million last fall when Gov. Timothy M. Kaine told all state schools to trim costs because of a state funding shortfall.

Tech also lost about $72 million in state money in 2003, and now receives about $2,000 less per Virginia student than eight years ago, the university said in a release.

Terry Sherman of Virginia Beach was in Blacksburg on Tuesday afternoon picking up her son, Chris, a rising junior finished with his final exams.

She was silent for a moment when told about the increase.

"It was one of the least-expensive state schools," she finally said by phone. "So I guess we'll pay the price because we have to. But since it's still in the tuition range of the other schools, I'm still glad my son is going here."

She noted with approval the security improvements and other campus renovations.

"I guess somebody's got to pay for all that," she said.

Locally, Old Dominion will increase undergraduate costs to Virginians by 6 percent, and Norfolk State by 4.5 percent.

By keeping their increases for in-state students below state-set caps, the two universities qualified for additional incentive funding from a $ 17 million state pool: at least $1.1 million for ODU, and $200,000 for Norfolk State.

Carol Wood, U.Va.'s assistant vice president for public affairs, said state schools have been trying to catch up from past tuition freezes and repeated cuts in state funding, forcing them to rely more on tuition to pay the bills.

Also, 3.7 percent of U.Va.'s increase this year will be used to add $2 million at year to AccessUVa, its financial aid program, raising the fund to almost $62 million annually. The program aims to bring more lower-income students to the campus.

U.Va. had a 29.8 percent leap in tuition and fees in 2003 and has increased those charges by 8 to 11 percent a year ever since.

This year's increase "is not worst- case," Wood said. "This is about middle of the road."

Matthew Bowers, (757) 222-3893, matthew.bowers@pilotonline.com