In April, the freshly constituted Finance Committee of the Board of Visitors unanimously approved a 3.6 percent hike in tuition, among a slew of other price increases, for the 2026-27 school year. At a time when families are already being squeezed by skyrocketing gas prices and rising interest rates, the University saw fit to add another layer of fiscal pressure on students and their families.
The Board’s rationale for this increase was purely speculative — the Board pointed to proposals in the General Assembly such as allowing for public-sector collective bargaining, among other things. The problem is that this collective bargaining bill did not actually become law. With one of the Board’s justifications for this tuition increase now a moot point, why should students and their parents be expected to foot the bill for supposed additional costs that do not exist? The cost of attending the University is simply out of control, and the Board has shown no signs of retreating from its position. While the Board may assume that its hands are tied, controlling the cost of college tuition is actually remarkably straightforward. It is not a lack of ability — it is a lack of will. Florida figured this out 30 years ago, and Virginia would do well to follow their lead.
The cost for a Virginian to attend our University for a single year is about the same as a brand new BMW — around $40,000-$50,000. Tuition alone consumes between $16,000-$20,000. For that price, students should expect a lot from their University. After all, students’ parents are presumably forgoing a litany of expensive opportunities in order to send their children to the University. Instead, the University nickel-and-dimes students with textbooks that cost hundreds of dollars, preposterous penalties for improper parking and absurdly expensive dining plans with notoriously subpar food quality. This tuition increase comes on top of these added expenses. While it is unclear how, if at all, our University will be making notable and proportional improvements to the quality of the educational experience this academic year, the Board has nonetheless decided that it requires more of our money.
Contrast this with Florida. Believe it or not, it is remarkably affordable for a Florida resident to attend college in the Sunshine State. Florida’s in-state tuition rates for the state’s major universities range between $6,000 and $7,000 per year. After housing and other expenses, attending the University of Florida for one year comes out to around $26,000 — something like half of what our University costs. For many Florida students, that number is even lower thanks to the Bright Futures Scholarship Program, which rewards prospective students with reduced tuition based on academic performance. Some Florida residents will pay no out-of-pocket expenses for tuition as a result of the Florida Academic Scholars program.
What sorcery is going on here? It is not as if Florida taxes its citizens remarkably more to pay for public universities. To the contrary, Florida has no state income tax versus Virginia’s top rate of nearly 6 percent. Florida’s overall state budget is just barely larger than Virginia’s despite having almost three times the population. Worst of all, none of Florida’s universities enjoy even close to our University’s multi-billion-dollar endowment. The difference is that Florida apparently has the political will that Virginia lacks. In Florida, tuition rates are not set by universities directly — they are capped by state law. With little wiggle room, Florida’s universities cannot get away with flagrant price gouging.
One argument in favor of higher tuition rates is that Florida’s universities do not meet the level of prestige and academic rigor offered by our University. While it is true that our University regularly outperforms Florida’s top universities in academic rankings and salary expectations, it is nonsensical to argue that a slightly higher starting salary is worth incurring, in many cases, twice the amount of student loan debt. Furthermore, while Florida’s top schools may underperform our University, the same cannot be said about other equally expensive Virginia schools. The University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of Miami all match or easily outperform colleges like Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University. Nonetheless, these other Virginia schools charge similarly ridiculous tuition rates to our University. Virginia residents should not be forced to pay unreasonably high prices for higher education. Florida already has better weather — we do not need to let them beat Virginia at education affordability as well.
For many, attending the University is more than just a foregone conclusion — it is an opportunity to improve their and their family’s lot in life. Unfortunately, with costs continuing to balloon dramatically, middle-class students in particular who cannot qualify for need-based aid are being priced out. Virginia cannot afford for college admission to become a luxury good enjoyed by the few who can afford an extra BMW. To the University, reversing these price hikes would be a necessary, but not sufficient, step to begin to rectify this problem. And to the General Assembly, take a page out of Florida’s book. The General Assembly should place a hard cap on the rate that colleges can charge their students — effectively a layup for legislators on both sides eager to score a win for Virginia. Failing to act now would spell disaster for Virginia’s future.
Joshua Hawkins is an opinion columnist for the Editorial Board who writes about politics for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Cavalier Daily. Columns represent the views of the author alone.
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