College tuition is rising yet again across the Washington area, leaving parents of undergrads to grin and bear it — and then fork it over. In Virginia, the increases are big for in-state students as state funding drops off and federal stimulus dollars dry up. Across the Potomac River, Maryland is expected to raise its public college system’s tuition for only the second time in six years after the General Assembly decided not to increase its funding.
While the District’s private schools remain the most expensive area options, their modest tuition upticks fell below the national increase of 4.5 percent.
| The cost of college | ||
| College | 2011-2012 tuition | Tuition increase |
| American | $37,544 | 3.8% |
| Bowie State | Pending | |
| Georgetown | $40,920 | 2.9% |
| George Washington | $44,148* | 2.9%* |
| Johns Hopkins | $40,680 | 3.9% |
| Towson University | Pending | |
| U.Md. College Park | Pending | |
| University of Virginia | $11,576 in-state, $36,570 out | 8.9 percent |
| Virginia State | $7,090 in-state, $15,998 out | 7.9% in-state, 5.6% out |
| Virginia Tech | $10,509 in-state, $24,480 out | 9.6% in-state, 5.4% out |
| William & Mary | $13,132 in-state, $35,962 out | 7.7% in-state, 6.5% out |
| *Only for the incoming freshman class | ||
Tuition for University of Virginia students will rise 8.9 percent, bringing the in-state price tag to $11,576 and the out-of-state cost to $36,570 — almost the same cost as the area’s private universities.
“For public school tuition, it does seem a little steep,” said Leah DiFolco, an Alexandria resident whose oldest daughter will attend U.Va. in the fall.
But the starkest tuition increase announced in the region so far is at Virginia Tech, where tuition (including mandatory fees) is slated to jump 9.6 percent for in-state students. That means parents in the state will shell out $10,509 — still a bargain compared with out-of-state tuition, which will hit $24,480.
Georgetown University tuition creeped up 2.9 percent to $40,920, while George Washington University raised tuition for only its freshman class, by 2.9 percent, to $44,148. American Univesity’s jump of 3.8 percent was its smallest increase in 15 years, but it still landed the private school at $37,544.
Ed Roesch, who has sent three children to the University of Virginia, said he was happy to bite the bullet for a strong public school instead of a costly private school. “Their costs are outrageous,” said Roesch, who sent one of his sons to private Virginia Wesleyan in Virginia Beach. But “public education in Virginia is the greatest thing, so I’d have a hard time being excited about a price increase of 9 percent.”
DiFolco found out about U.Va.’s price increase last week, after agreeing to a financial aid package and committing to the college. “But it won’t make us consider anyplace else at this point. … We feel U.Va. is a very good opportunity for her, and she’s worked very hard to get there.”
Tuition at the University of Maryland increased by 3 percent last year to $6,763 for in-state students and $23,178 for the others, and another increase is expected following a four-year tuition freeze touted by Gov. Martin O’Malley.
“Of course, it just means more money out of our pocket, more loans to take out, and it affects everything you do,” said Michael Hassin, an alumnus who has two children at the University of Maryland. “But as far as them going there, it won’t affect that. If the kid loves the school, we’ll take out loans and pay as much we can.”
Pamela Picou’s daughter is a senior at Gaithersburg High School and has decided to head out of state to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. “When you compare it to in-state in Maryland, it was probably $6,000 more a year more,” Picou said. “But it wasn’t enormously more, and it was a school she really wanted to go to, so we’re going to bite the bullet.”
Thanks to a $50,000 foundation scholarship and grants from the school, Sabrina McMillian said tuition is barely a problem for her daughter, who will head to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when she graduates from Montgomery Blair High School.
“There’s a college-going culture at Blair that helps the kids know what to do, and the kids do it,” McMillian said. “You end up in a position where the students don’t have to pay for college because they have their test scores, and college prep, and they’re generally such nice kids that they receive scholarships.”
Caitlin Byrnes contributed to this report.
