AS THE University community struggles with a disturbing lack of socioeconomic diversity within the student body, the administration is pursuing two very different policies that could have conflicting effects on UVa affordability. Access U.Va. was created to provide over $16 million per year to make it possible for all high achieving students to come here, regardless of income level. At the same time, the University is strongly promoting charter legislation in the General Assembly that threatens the low tuition levels for in-state students. The University needs to include Access U.Va. provisions in the charter in order to guarantee that no circumstance allows the higher tuition to compromise the effectiveness of Access U.Va. and similar efforts to improve access to UVa.
The charter legislation does not limit tuition increases, nor does it contain provisions requiring increased financial aid for deserving students in the case that tuition does increase substantially. Though the student body contains a disproportionately high number of wealthy students, many of us still depend upon in-state tuition levels and substantial financial aid. Thus, the University's authority to dramaically increase tuition worries some students who are concerned that her current levels of financial aid from private sources will not be adequate to cover the tuition costs. Current students might also be concerned that their families' budgets cannot adjust to dramatic tuition increases. My family's income will not increase by 20 percent next year, even if the tuition does. Under the "market conditions" mentioned in the introduction of the charter legislation, the University could raise tuition rates substantially and still have plenty of applicants.
There is nothing in the charter to prevent the administration from choosing this course, and with the increased autonomy of the University, we as students and citizens do not have a power mechanism by which we can change an intolerable tuition situation. Currently, the General Assembly could cap tuition if it felt the administration raised it too much. That will not be the case under the charter, and while the General Assembly has undoubtedly accumulated a decade of failed higher education policies, removing that small check upon the administration's ability to raise tuition could impair low-income students' ability to attend the University.
That is not to say the University administration is not committed to improving access to the University. According to Carol Wood, University spokesperson, though U.Va is the only state institution to meet 100 percent of demonstrated student need, President John T. Casteen, III requested the creation of Access U.Va. in order to further improve access for low-income students. Casteen and the administration's leadership is laudable. However, the charter could endanger this profound commitment to helping lower income students attend the University. The charter legislation does not contain language affording low-income students any protection from tuition increases.
You have probably heard that under the charter, with Access U.Va., no loans will exceed the cost of one year's tuition. This guarantee is not in the charter, and since the administration is fundamentally committed to equal opportunity, such a guarantee needs to be codified in the charter. Regrettably, no aspect of Access UVa is contained in the charter. Therefore, if the charter passes, we will receive tuition increases with no guarantee of concomitant increases in financial aid. Casteen deserves the highest praise for providing the initiative to create Access U.Va. The administration should honor this commitment to equal opportunity by codifying Access U.Va. in the charter.
Zack Fields column normally appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at zfields@cavalierdaily.com.
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