Education School Dean David W. Breneman spoke to the United State Senate's Committee on Governmental Affairs yesterday, addressing the rising cost of college tuition and the effectiveness of government financial aid.
Breneman prefaced his written testimony with the admonition that the media focuses too much attention and criticism on a "relatively small number of the highest-priced private colleges and universities, enrolling a tiny share of the nation's college students."
He said the media has sensationalized the upward trend in the cost of higher education and unnecessarily has made parents and students "terrified" about paying for college.
He added that he believes public universities and community colleges are quite affordable and offer extremely reasonable tuition rates, in contrast to the high-priced private colleges and universities the media often targets.
Breneman said one of the main causes of the debate over college tuition is that "higher education doesn't have any absolute standards on how much they should spend on educating a student. [They] can only compare to peer groups, particularly in the private sector."
Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget, said the University "looks at national peer institutions, both public and private, and where U.Va. ranks in relation to them" to determine tuition.
Sheehy said while the University is one of the more expensive public institutions, there still is a large gap between tuition at the University and tuition at comparable private universities.
Breneman also said this decade's economic expansion, rising stock market and low inflation have allowed colleges with considerable private support and large endowments to accrue a significant amount of wealth.
He said some colleges may be prompted to raise tuition rates even though they have significant private support, because they fear falling behind peer institutions.
In his testimony, Breneman cited the innovative decision by Williams College to freeze its tuition for a year.
He said this was a political decision rather than an economic one, intended to signal other institutions of higher learning that perhaps now is the time to halt the upward trend in tuition costs. He added that he predicts other institutions will not follow suit and Williams College will be forced to raise its costs again.
Breneman said cases such as Williams College "give fuel to Governor Gilmore's decision to roll back tuition across the board." He said he feels "this is not a good decision for U.Va., where the student body is generally affluent" and the focus of the government should "be on helping low-income families."
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