Private colleges in Maryland have been harder hit by budget cuts than those in Virginia, largely because of a decrease in funding for financial aid.
While private institutions rely almost solely on tuition and endowments, most states offer taxpayer support.
About 80 percent of Maryland’s Sellinger fund — a pool of state money — goes toward need-based aid for in-state students at independent colleges.
After multiple cuts the past several years, the $38 million fund is at its lowest per-student level in more than 15 years, said Tina Bjarekull, president of the Maryland Independent Colleges and Universities Association.
“Relatively, we’re down much further than public universities and community colleges,” she said.
In addition, an increase in the number of Maryland students needing financial aid has meant far less of it to go around. Last year, the state’s financial aid program offered assistance to families whose maximum contribution to their students’ education was $10,000. This year, the cut-off has dropped to $5,000.
In Virginia, the tuition assistance grant for in-state students attending private schools is unchanged this year at about $3,000 per student, regardless of merit or need.
“The downturn in state support has not affected us with anything like the impact on our public universities,” said Ed Ayers, president of the University of Richmond and soon-to-be boss of Gov. Tim Kaine, who will teach there in the fall.
About 550 of nearly 3,00 University of Richmond students receive those grants, helping offset a $40,000 annual tuition plus room and board.
The average tuition at private four-year colleges is about $26,000, up more than 4 percent from 2008-09, according to the College Board. The average public tuition is about $7,000, up more than 6 percent since last year.
In the District, students enjoy about $35 million in federal support to cover up to $10,000 in the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at any public university in the country.
While that figure hasn’t changed — it recently doubled — the director of the D.C. College Access Program, Argelia Rodriguez, said $10,000 often is not enough as universities raise out-of-state rates faster than those in-state.
At nearby University of Virginia, for example, the in-state cost for tuition is about $7,500. Out-of-state students pay $29,000.
