Interactive Map: Cost of College

More students need more financial aid. Faculty pay is rising. Utility bills are climbing. Even library journals cost more.

Leaders of Virginia Commonwealth University say they can't pay for it all, stay competitive and hold tuition to a 4 percent increase -- even with a cash incentive from the state.

Neither can Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, George Mason University, the College of William and Mary or other state schools that are raising tuition rates by nearly double-digits.

None have been swayed by a new $17.5 million state incentive fund to be shared by schools that hold their 2008-09 increases for in-state undergraduate tuition and instructional fees to 4 percent.

"We appreciate their sentiment, but the bottom line is the money we would have gotten from it would not have been enough to fund our expenses of the coming year," said Dan Walsch, spokesman for George Mason, which increased its rate for in-state undergraduates by 9.8 percent.

The Northern Virginia school would have received $1.6 million through the Higher Education Tuition Moderation Incentive Fund, established this year by the General Assembly. GMU will generate about $10.7 million with its 9.8 percent rate increase, Walsch said.

Schools such as Virginia Tech and VCU cite rising costs and eroding state funding as reasons for higher increases that fall squarely on the shoulders of students and their parents.

"I think a 10 percent increase is ridiculous considering the increases we've seen in the past and the lack of increase in the quality of service," Josh Kadrich, a rising VCU junior, said of his school's 9.4 percent increase in in-state undergraduate tuition and fees.

At the same time, Kadrich says he thinks cuts in state funding create a vicious cycle for universities that rely on tuition increases for revenue.

The state's general fund allocation to higher education grew by roughly 6 percent in 2007-08, which was 5 percent less than initially projected, and schools had to absorb the difference, said Tony Maggio, a legislative fiscal analyst. The state increased funding by 2 percent for 2008-09, accounting for 2 percent faculty salary increases and the tuition-incentive fund, among other things.

The 2008-09 general fund allocation to higher education is about $1.5 billion.

Many smaller state schools, including Radford University, Virginia State University and Virginia Military Institute, anticipate qualifying for the incentive fund.

School leaders weigh a complicated mix of factors in setting rates. They want to remain affordable to the type of students they attract while making improvements.

VCU's administration gave its board of visitors two choices -- raise tuition and fees 4.8 percent and fund 36 percent of their budget requirements, or raise rates 9 percent and fund 48 percent. Members discussed the options, even slept on it, before approving a 9.4 percent increase.

"I don't take this decision very lightly and I know none of the rest of us here do," VCU's rector, Thomas G. Rosenthal, said before voting on the rates Friday.

To be eligible for the incentive fund, a school must limit in-state undergraduate tuition and mandatory instructional fee increases to 3 percent. Schools may add an additional percentage-point to the increase if the money is devoted to financial aid for in-state students.

The $17.5 million pool was devised to be shared by the 15 four-year state schools; Richard Bland, a junior college; and the state's community colleges. If a school doesn't use its allotment, half of its share is distributed among the schools that qualify and the rest reverts to the state.

The planned one-time incentives, based on enrollment and other factors, vary per school, from $120,000 for VMI to $2.5 million for Virginia Tech.

State lawmakers who approved the incentive fund wished all schools would participate but figured some would pass.

"We want to try to encourage them to keep tuition rates at a certain level," said Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "If they make a local decision not to, we understand and appreciate the independence of the universities."

William and Mary found that a 4 percent tuition increase plus the school's $600,000 payout from the incentive fund would have left the school $600,000 short of its budget.

"When you do the math, there was not enough dollars there to meet those three basic objectives" of raising salaries, financial aid and paying utility bills, said Sam Jones, vice president for finance at William and Mary.

After this year's budget wrangling, members of VCU's board of visitors plan to discuss how to fund their long-range vision other than through tuition increases.

"We need to fundamentally relook at how we see the future, how we're going to get the resources to keep this an institution that people want to come to and to get a degree that means something," Rosenthal said.

"We've done a fabulous job at being able to do that, but the dynamics have really changed."
Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.