Not so many overstuffed minivans pull up to freshman dorms to begin the school year anymore. A gaze on McCormick Road this August revealed an increasing number of Jaguars, Land Rovers, and luxury cars dropping off their increasingly more affluent first-year Wahoos. Most had out-of-state plates. While the parable is merely illustrative, statistics back this trend. When 69 percent of out-of-state students at the University do not even receive loans, let alone grants, middle-class students are disappearing from college campuses.
This alarming trend calls for an urgent look at what lofty tuition rates and plummeting government support for public education are doing to the social makeup of the United States.
A Chronicle of Higher Education survey found 82 percent of Americans agreeing that "It is very difficult for a middle-class family to afford a college education."("Colleges Bring Better Lives
Read More
KURTZWEIL: Threats to learning cannot be met with cowardice
By Paul Kurtzweil | 4 days agoResisting an unjust system should be at the forefront of university policy.
CASTAGNO: Closing the Federal Executive Institute fails local residents
By Conall Costagno | 5 days agoThe unwilling departure of the FEI from Charlottesville represents the severing of a constructive accord between the government and the University.
COHEN: Facing federal cuts, U.Va. must defend affordability
By Ryan Cohen | April 3, 2025In this uncertain environment, the University must act creatively and strategically to ensure it can maintain its commitment to affordability.
