University students are not the only ones in Virginia who will pay a higher tuition in January.
Colleges and universities across the Commonwealth implemented surcharges and tuition increases for spring semester to offset hefty statewide budget cuts.
Among others, James Madison University, Virginia Tech and the College of William & Mary all installed permanent increases ranging from $170 to $400 to their semester tuition bases for both in-state and out-of-state students.
George Mason University added a temporary surcharge of $192 to its spring tuition. The University's spring semester surcharge was set at $385 last week.
Officials at JMU, Tech and William & Mary say they await board of visitors meetings to determine whether their tuition will increase once again in fall 2003.
"There's an even larger budget cut coming," said Fred Hilton, director of university communications at JMU.
It is "hard to say at this point" whether William & Mary will raise its tuition again, said Bill Walker, associate vice president for public affairs at the college. He added that the finance committee at William & Mary will recommend a second tuition increase at the Nov. 21 board meeting.
"If you're going to make cuts, [tuition increases] are certainly a place to look," Hilton said.
GMU and the University both expect their boards of visitors to decide on permanent tuition increases this school year.
Another tuition raise "is a possibility," said Jeremy Lasich, public relations coordinator at GMU.
The tuition increases and surcharges at Virginia public colleges and universities help to put revenue back into the schools after suffering drastic funding reductions.
At Virginia Tech, the tuition increase will alleviate $20 million of Tech's $72 million budget cuts next year, according to Larry Hincker, associate vice president of university relations at Tech.
William & Mary will raise $2.4 million annually through its tuition increase, according to Walker, making up for over half of its $4.6 million budget cut.
Students reliant on financial aid are considered in the budget plans at each school.
"Money has definitely been set aside to help students" who need financial aid at GMU, Lasich said.
The "pool of financial aid" will be increased by $500,000 at William & Mary, according to Walker. Money will be available through the tuition increase and through restructuring of the overall budget.
The financial aid fund for Tech's 25,000 students will be increased by $2.3 million next year.
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