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
YOUNIS: U.Va.’s study abroad program in the UAE is an endorsement, not an education
By Ayat Younis | 5 days agoStudy abroad programs like this one are implicit, institutional endorsements that certify the host state's compliance with the University’s ethical, educational and safety standards, all of which serve as a form of soft-power validation.
LETTER: When everything is labeled hazing, nothing is
By Scott Gleason | 6 days agoWorse still, over-policing benign practices risks driving genuinely harmful behavior underground.
EDITORIAL: The tumultuous year, in our own words
By Editorial Board | January 3, 2026Our articles are typically published under the monolithic title of “EDITORIAL.” This article, however, intends to capture the parts of the whole — the seven students behind the sign-off.
