In a unanimous vote at its Friday meeting, the Board of Visitors gave its consent for the University to lower its application fee from $60 to $40.
The Office of Admissions still must make a final decision about the change.
On Monday, Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) amended House Bill 29, a budget bill for the 1998-2000 fiscal years. One of the amendments would appropriate $2 million for the renovation of Peabody Hall under the condition that the University lower its application fee by $20.
During University President John T. Casteen III's general report about this year's Virginia General Assembly session at the Board meeting, he and Leonard W. Sandridge Jr., executive vice president and chief operating officer, urged the Board to approve the fee decrease.
"We ought to support a proposal that reduces the cost to applicants, if only because we have the purpose of encouraging students to apply far and wide," Casteen said.
Sandridge, Gilmore and University Rector John P. Ackerly III reached an agreement about the change two weeks ago.
"The Board tacitly backed us up on that," Ackerly said. The decision "wasn't controversial at all."
The General Assembly still must vote on Gilmore's amended budget this week, but Casteen said he thinks the bill will pass and that he "look[s] forward to good things" as a result.
If the General Assembly passes the bill, Sandridge will have the authority to reduce the fee.
The University increased the application fee last year to fund the renovation of Peabody Hall, which now houses the Office of the Dean of Students. After renovations, which are expected to take about a year, it also will house the Office of Admissions.
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