Virginia legislators are giving the commonwealth’s public colleges and universities a lucrative incentive to limit how much they charge in-state students.
The budget bill the General Assembly approved last month included a $7 million fund that will be distributed only to institutions that avoid hefty increases in tuition and fees.
“This reflects a commitment to maintain the educational quality of our institutions of higher education while mitigating the impact of tuition increases,” said Del. Vincent Callahan, R-McLean.
The House initially proposed $34 million for the incentive, which will be distributed to qualifying institutions based on the usual state funding formula, but the amount was reduced during negotiations with the Senate. Budget-writing lawmakers are concerned that despite increased government spending, colleges and universities are charging Virginia students more for their education each year.
“The university presidents are not out there running amok,” said Del. Philip Hamilton, R-Newport News. “We control the one thing they want … the money.”
To qualify for the extra funding, an institution’s tuition this year could go up no more than 2.25 percent above what is needed to pay the institution’s share of legislation-approved pay increases for faculty and staff. Legislators said the maximum increase will end up being about 5 percent a year, compared with the 90 percent in-state rates have shot up since the General Assembly lifted its tuition freeze in 2002.
“This is not mandatory, nor is it a tuition cap,” said Del. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester, who chairs the appropriations panel’s higher-education subcommittee. “Institutions have a choice. Their board of visitors can set tuition and fees to levels that they deem necessary. However, we think that the commonwealth should focus its limited resources to encourage institutions to keep increases reasonable.”
Gubernatorial spokesman Kevin Hall said Gov. Tim Kaine supports the efforts to limit tuition increases. But “if the legislature were truly serious about holding down tuition,” Hall said, lawmakers should significantly increase state allocations to each institution and stop raiding the general operating fund that provides higher-education funding.
