While politicians in Richmond consider increasing tuition because of a budget crisis, for many students the costs of attending the University will rise next year for another reason.
The Board of Visitors approved Jan. 25 an increase in the housing fees for all on-Grounds housing beginning next year.
Students will pay an increase of approximately 4 percent, depending on where they live, which works out to be about $100 per person for most housing facilities.
Students also will pay an additional flat $100 facility fee, causing a total increase of anywhere from 6 to 9 percent.
First-year dormitories will be among the hardest hit, percentage-wise, with some McCormick Road residents paying over 9 percent more than current first years.
Next year will mark the first time in many years that rates will increase significantly beyond what is required to keep up with inflation, said Richard Kovatch, associate vice president for Business Operations.
The 4 percent rate hike is necessary because of costs associated with the new foreign-language residence hall being constructed on Jefferson Park Avenue, Kovatch said.
The separate facility fee will go to service a backlog of specific maintenance needs, Board member Terence P. Ross said.
"This is money that I really feel will be really tangibly felt immediately by the students," Ross said.
Last year, the Board added a $50 facility fee to this year's housing rates. The Board committed itself to raising housing rates by $50 for next year and by $50 again for 2003-4, for a total increase of $150 in housing rates over three years.
However, on Ross' suggestion, the Board decided to increase the facility fee by $100 this year instead of by $50 next year. It is not clear whether the Board again will raise rates by $50 for 2003-4.
The increased facility fees will raise $600,000 annually, Ross said, whereas the cost of all the repairs requested is in the millions of dollars.
The cost of repairs has risen as residence halls have aged, and funding has not kept up with maintenance needs in recent years, Chief Housing Officer Mark Doherty said.
However, University residence halls still are in good repair in comparison to those at peer institutions, Kovatch said.
Even with the new increases, housing rates at the University are $660 less than the average for colleges and universities in the Commonwealth.
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