DAYS LIKE last Wednesday really make students from states other than Virginia wish they could vote. After the 6 percent cost hike last year that financed a tuition cut for Virginians, it seems that the administration would give non-residents a break this year. No such luck. It turns out the administration recommended a 4.7 percent rise for total University costs for 2000-01. Whether or not the hike in overall costs was warranted, forcing only out-of-state students to pay for it is not.
This abuse needs to stop. Runaway tuition increases for out-of-state students will, if unchecked, eventually make the University a less competitive school.
It makes sense for students at a state university who reside in another state to pay the full cost of their education because they already don't contribute to education in the state, but the University has gone beyond common practice to highway robbery. This year non-residents pay four times what residents do, and tuition and fees are an average of 30 percent higher for out-of-state students at peer institutions. According to Director of the Budget, Melody Bianchetto, the University has the third highest out-of-state rates among public peer institutions after Cornell and Michigan State. Administration officials who argue that the University can raise tuition with impunity are wrong. Any high quality university always will attract students not concerned about money. But the students who have limited funds for college tuition are the vast majority, and these students matter.
The University will lose out-of-state students if it loses its bargain status and those who can pay might choose another prestigious university because there is a better cost incentive. The administration often quotes surveys where students who rejected the University say cost didn't matter. However, Bianchetto notes that these surveys approximately are five years old -- from a time of smaller tuition raises -- therefore making them outdated.
These supposedly definitive surveys, however, can't cover the students who never applied in the first place because of a university's cost. There are many outstanding students who never apply to schools because of the cost. It isn't a coincidence that applications to the University dropped the year after non-Virginia tuition rates increased six percent.
Other state universities are peer institutions because they attract talent from outside their borders. The University of Oklahoma has made a sustained effort to attract National Merit scholars from across the nation over the past decade. During that time, says Craig Hayes, head of the National Scholar's Program there, they have increased their freshman National Merit numbers from 118 to 159 in seven years and National Merit Scholars are generally very sought after. A significant portion, says Hayes, are non-residents. This is an increase of 35 percent during an enrollment increase of about 20 percent. The University can't afford to let Oklahoma and others take our best prospective students because it offers a lower cost.
It's hard to raise uproar without the time to do so. When the administration doesn't release proposed hikes until just before the Board of Visitors votes, students have no time to protest. The University needs to have an ongoing, year-round effort to work with out-of-state students on tuition costs.
If administrators are appalled that the University lost its top rating this year, they should think about how much more would be lost by driving away non-residents. It's a simple, undeniable fact that a university, public or private, loses its reputation without geographical diversity. This is why universities in California salivate over people from Kentucky: To get a national reputation you need national students. A University of Virginia degree would mean less without non-Virginia students, and that hurts Virginia residents.
The University needs to contain out-of- state costs before it loses more people. This isn't just an administration job. Student groups, especially Student Council, need to have an ongoing lobbying effort to stop the Commonwealth from dictating tuition just to score points with voters. In-state students must be involved for this to work because the only way non-Virginia students can vote is by attending other universities for less money. Current students don't want to do this and probably won't, but the true impact comes when prospective students get up and walk away because their value goes unrecognized.
Read More
ONIBUDO AND SAWAYA: Police, not students, were agents of chaos
By Naima Sawaya and Nathan Onibudo | YesterdaySaturday, the state, not students nor protesters, brought violence to this campus.
IYER: Sports stadiums should sport more benefit to Virginia residents
By Arjun Iyer | 4 days agoPast stadiums in other states show that Virginia has the potential to succeed at such a construction project, provided that proper measures are undertaken.
KURTZWEIL: True financial aid must be transparent
By Paul Kurtzweil | April 29, 2024The implications and revelations of the lawsuit should inspire greater transparency at the University in order to ensure that financial aid is properly and equitably distributed.
