A look at the University’s trend of rising tuition

Since 1999, in-state tuition at the University has risen by $17,000 for the College of Arts & Sciences. The difference represents a 558 percent increase within 27 years, well outpacing the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ reported inflation rate of 94 percent over the same period. Similar increases to tuition have occurred in the University’s other schools and for out-of-state students.

For the current academic year, the estimated total cost of attendance — including tuition, fees and “additional categories” — for a first-year in-state College student is $40,468. The estimated cost of attendance for first-year out-of-state students in the College is between $80,328 and $81,718.

Some schools, such as the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, charge both in- and out-of-state students higher prices than the College. A first-year in-state Engineering student has a total cost of attendance of $51,160, and a first-year out-of-state Engineering student has a total cost of between $91,456 and $92,846.

Beyond undergraduate students, in-state School of Law students pay $74,078 in tuition, compared to $14,201 in 1999. Out-of-state School of Law students currently pay slightly more at $76,396, compared with $20,600 in 1999. The relatively small difference in tuition for Virginians and non-residents is in part because the School of Law has been entirely financially self-sufficient since 2002.

In reality, not all students at the University end up paying the listed cost of attendance. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 42 percent of undergraduates at the University received financial assistance during the 2022-2023 academic year. This assistance was in the form of grant or scholarship aid, including federal student loans and pell grants, and brought the University’s net price of attendance that year to $17,831 for in-state undergraduates. The net price of attendance is the cost that students receiving any grants or scholarship aid pay on average to attend the University.

Concurrent with the rise in tuition and fees, the University has expanded its own financial aid offerings — separate from federal aid — which keeps the amount the average student pays more stable. The University’s net price of tuition and fees for in-state students who qualify for financial aid has still increased by 208 percent since 1999, when it was $8,563.

This financial aid also allows the University to retain a reputation of offering good educational value for the price students pay — evidenced by the University being named the second-best-value public university by The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review also gave the University a 93 out of 99 for return on investment.

AccessUVA, the University’s financial aid program, was introduced in 2004 to meet 100 percent of need-based aid for students. At this time, the base cost of attendance was $11,703 for in-state undergraduates, regardless of their enrolled school.

Upon the inauguration of former University President Jim Ryan in 2018, AccessUVA was expanded to cover the cost of tuition and fees for Virginia families with incomes of less than $80,000 and the full cost of attendance for Virginia families with incomes of less than $30,000. In 2023, AccessUVA was further expanded to waive tuition for Virginia families with incomes of less than $100,000 and tuition, fees, housing and dining for Virginia families with incomes of less than $50,000. The family-income-dependent coverage through AccessUVA is available only to in-state families.

The discrepancy of the University becoming progressively more expensive while being praised for value can be attributed to its pricing model, which it shares with many other highly-selective institutions across the country such as Yale, Duke and Columbia.

The University charges full-pay students, or those without any demonstrated financial need, to subsidize its promise to meet 100 percent of all students' demonstrated financial need, regardless of residency. Full-pay students’ costs also subsidize the University’s effort to waive tuition and fees for Virginia families with incomes less than the thresholds of $100,000 and $50,000.

The University’s pricing model has garnered criticism and concerns from some student leaders on Grounds. Clay Dickerson, Student Council president and fourth-year College student and William Rudeseal, College at Wise Student Government Association president and fourth-year Wise student, requested the University to keep tuition flat at the College at Wise in a joint statement released Nov. 20.

“Next, we must prioritize affordability for all students and patients, while providing unmatched economic uplift to our employees, surrounding communities and the Commonwealth,” the two student body presidents wrote.

Regarding the University, Dickerson and Rudeseal wrote that there should not be more than a three percent annual increase to fees for essential services for learning and wellbeing.

In a statement to The Cavalier Daily, University spokesperson Bethanie Glover wrote that the University is committed to involving all stakeholders when setting tuition rates.

“As we work to build the tuition plan for the upcoming fiscal year, we will again be balancing out costs associated with maintaining our excellence while continuing to find operational efficiencies in our system,” Glover wrote. “We look forward to discussion with all our university stakeholders as we build the appropriate financial plan for U.Va..”

Glover wrote that the University’s goal is to combine affordability, accessibility and quality for students.

“We have one of the nation’s highest graduation rates coupled with great wages upon graduation, making the investment in U.Va. through tuition and other sources one of the best [return on investment] in the country,” Glover wrote.

Fourth-year Engineering student Alex Kerr contrasted what he, as an in-state student, pays to attend the University with what his sister pays as an out-of-state student to attend the University of Florida.

“In-state tuition [in Florida] is six to seven thousand dollars and about half the students at the University of Florida are on merit-based scholarships that cover that already,” Kerr said. “[My sister’s] out-of-state tuition is cheaper than my in-state tuition, or at least has been for a few semesters.”

For the 2025-26 academic year, the University of Florida costs $48,700 for out-of-state students. According to the NCES, 84 percent of students at the University of Florida received financial assistance of any type for the 2022-2023 academic year, compared with 42 percent of students who received financial assistance at the University that year.

Kerr said that he does not think the University’s pricing model is sustainable, and students will not continue to accept the rising costs.

“Eventually, tuition is going to spiral out of control, and then, if only the ultra-wealthy are paying for it, they’re not going to be satisfied with that, if it’s one hundred people just carrying the brunt of the tuition [and] everyone else gets it for free … it’s not going to work,” Kerr said.

A look at the University’s trend of rising tuition

The cost of attending the University without financial aid has increased fourfold for in-state and out-of-state undergraduates since the 1999-2000 academic year

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