State funding still shrinking for Va. colleges
Section: News
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - As state funding for Virginia's higher-education system continues to shrink, colleges and universities say they'll have to raise tuition again and consider more cutbacks, especially after federal stimulus money disappears.
The budget the General Assembly approved included across-the-board reductions of $243.5 million in the 2011-12 fiscal years, along with $40.5 million worth of cuts and cost savings.
About $198 million in federal stimulus funds are available for schools during the 2011 fiscal year that starts July 1. But in fiscal 2012, it will be gone, meaning four-year colleges will see state support drop by 15 percent, and the community-college system will see a 13 percent reduction.
"We know that we're going to have a substantial tuition increase" because the state's portion of colleges' instructional costs continues to shrink, Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said Thursday, March 18.
Governing boards of four-year schools and the community college system will meet this spring to determine tuition increases for the upcoming academic year. Some schools had to adopt midyear tuition increases for 2009-10.
But colleges recognize that it could have been worse in light of Virginia's toughest budget process in recent memory, and officials say the legislature largely shielded higher education from further cuts and didn't immediately reduce state undergraduate student aid.
The new budget would cut $10 million in fiscal 2012 - using an allocation method yet to be determined - and would save $14.4 million by increasing a charge assessed to out-of-state students from $10 per credit hour to $15 per credit hour.
Gov. Bob McDonnell has the option to amend the budget, which the General Assembly would take up when it reconvenes April 21.
Virginia Commonwealth University will lose $23.1 million in stimulus funds plus $19 million in state general funds in fiscal 2012 - a 10 percent hit to its instructional budget - and other institutions will also face sizable funding dropoffs, said John Bennett, VCU's senior vice president for finance and administration. In addition to raising tuition, the school will have to consider cutting more jobs and trimming course offerings, Bennett said.
The budget the General Assembly approved included across-the-board reductions of $243.5 million in the 2011-12 fiscal years, along with $40.5 million worth of cuts and cost savings.
About $198 million in federal stimulus funds are available for schools during the 2011 fiscal year that starts July 1. But in fiscal 2012, it will be gone, meaning four-year colleges will see state support drop by 15 percent, and the community-college system will see a 13 percent reduction.
"We know that we're going to have a substantial tuition increase" because the state's portion of colleges' instructional costs continues to shrink, Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said Thursday, March 18.
Governing boards of four-year schools and the community college system will meet this spring to determine tuition increases for the upcoming academic year. Some schools had to adopt midyear tuition increases for 2009-10.
But colleges recognize that it could have been worse in light of Virginia's toughest budget process in recent memory, and officials say the legislature largely shielded higher education from further cuts and didn't immediately reduce state undergraduate student aid.
The new budget would cut $10 million in fiscal 2012 - using an allocation method yet to be determined - and would save $14.4 million by increasing a charge assessed to out-of-state students from $10 per credit hour to $15 per credit hour.
Gov. Bob McDonnell has the option to amend the budget, which the General Assembly would take up when it reconvenes April 21.
Virginia Commonwealth University will lose $23.1 million in stimulus funds plus $19 million in state general funds in fiscal 2012 - a 10 percent hit to its instructional budget - and other institutions will also face sizable funding dropoffs, said John Bennett, VCU's senior vice president for finance and administration. In addition to raising tuition, the school will have to consider cutting more jobs and trimming course offerings, Bennett said.
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