Budget strain begins to ease

The University’s fiscal health is improving thanks to Board of Visitors action to raise tuition and fees. The increases follow massive state budget cuts and calls from students to raise what they pay for their U.Va. education rather than lower its quality.

Tuition and fees will go up by 11.2 percent for in-state undergraduates and 6.9 percent for non-Virginians this fall as part of a complex state formula that factors in current base tuition, a mid-year surcharge, and salary increases approved by the General Assembly. Adding in the charges for room and board, the price of attending U.Va. for undergraduates is estimated to be about $11,514 for in-state students and $27,534 for out-of-state students.

A portion of the new revenue is dedicated to a corresponding increase in financial aid.

New funds for the College, where state cuts hit hardest, mean the resumption of faculty hiring that had been frozen for nearly two years.

Despite the financial strain, Arts & Sciences Dean Edward L. Ayers credits the faculty and staff with buffering students from the impact of the state’s fiscal crisis. And in the long term he sees cause for optimism. “Restoring the Board’s ability to set tuition puts us on a more stable financial footing,” he said. “Basing our funding expectations on tuition prices that more accurately reflect the true cost of delivering a U.Va. education is far better than being buffeted by the politics of state funding.”