Thursday, January 22, 2009
Brace for tuition increases, college leaders tell lawmakers
"We're going to do our part without complaint to weather the storm," Tech's president said.
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RICHMOND -- Students at Virginia's public colleges will face tuition increases and larger class sizes as a result of budget cuts proposed by Gov. Tim Kaine, college presidents told a House of Delegates committee Wednesday.
Virginia Tech is considering a 9 percent tuition increase for the upcoming year, and presidents of other institutions said that higher tuition will be part of their plans to deal with the latest round of state budget cuts.
Faced with a $2.9 billion revenue shortfall, Kaine has cut budgets at four-year colleges by as much as 7 percent in the current fiscal year and has proposed a 15 percent cut for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Community college budgets also have been reduced.
"We're going to do our part without complaint to weather the storm," Tech President Charles Steger told members of the House Appropriations Committee.
But Steger said the latest round of cuts "is really setting us back rather considerably" and would cause "severe and permanent damage" if the university does not increase tuition rates.
The economic recession that forced the state budget cuts also is putting stress on college students and their families. Steger said Tech is creating an emergency loan fund to assist students whose parents have lost jobs during the economic downturn. Funds for the loans will come from the Virginia Tech Foundation.
Kaine also has asked lawmakers to approve $26 million for need-based financial aid to help cushion the impact of likely tuition increases.
In his State of the Commonwealth address last week, Kaine said he has been "constantly mindful of the effect of higher tuition costs on Virginia families."
Kaine has proposed nearly $36 million in cuts to Tech and more than $10 million to Radford University for the two-year period that ends June 30, 2010, according to the budget bill the governor introduced last month.
"These cuts are devastating," Radford President Penelope Kyle told the House committee.
But the presidents said the cuts would have a more severe impact if lawmakers impose a freeze or a cap on tuition rates. Linwood Rose, the president of James Madison University, said increased tuition revenue could offset as much as half of the state budget cuts at his institution.
"It is a difficult reality to face and it is a difficult reality for many of our students and their parents to understand," Rose said.
Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, acknowledged that tuition increases are an inevitable response to the budget cuts.
"If we cut funding to state colleges, the only way they can make it up is through tuition," said Ware, a member of the Appropriations Committee.
Some committee members complained that Kaine's cuts effectively punish colleges that limited tuition increases last year in exchange for more state funding. Colleges that limited tuition increases to 4 percent or less were eligible for dollars from a "tuition moderation incentive fund." Some lawmakers suggested that those colleges should not have their budgets cut as severely.
"The institutions that did what we asked them to do are being punished for participating," said Del. Phil Hamilton, R-Newport News.
Kaine's budget proposal also cuts funding for community colleges by 10 percent in the upcoming fiscal year. The cuts come as demand for community college offerings increases, said Glenn DuBois, chancellor of the community college system
"One way to break through this recession is to create jobs and our community colleges are at the forefront of this enterprise," DuBois said.
