The Virginia House of Delegates Higher Education Subcommittee recently proposed withholding funding from state colleges and universities unless they agree to keep tuition increases low.
According to Colette Sheehy, University vice president for management and budget, the University created a six-year plan last year that lays out the optimal scenario for cost-sharing between the state government and students.
"Every institution has a different rate of cost-sharing," Sheehy said. "What drives that is how many out-of-state students you have."
State universities also use a "base-adequacy" funding model, Sheehy added, which compares institutions to their peers.
Using the base-adequacy funding model, the University said it would raise tuition about nine percent, Sheehy said, noting that the University increased tuition by 9.3 percent last year.
If the University were to follow the subcommittee proposal's guidelines, Sheehy noted, tuition increases for next year would be about 4.5 percent.
Sheehy also said the House proposal goes against previous efforts by the state government to give college and university budgets more flexibility.
Del. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester, chairman of the House Appropriations Higher Education Subcommittee, said the Commonwealth had increased funding for state institutions by 16 percent last year in the hope of decreasing tuition for in-state students.
Del. Philip Hamilton, R-Newport News, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said despite those funding increases, tuition increased as well.
"There's been a lot of concern about the tuition growth that has occurred over the last five years," Hamilton said. "We wanted to create a reserve fund that serves as an incentive to colleges and universities that keep their tuition increases to the modest level of 2.25 percent."
Morgan said as long as state institutions keep tuition increases below five percent, they will continue to receive funds.
"This is not mandatory and it is not a tuition cap," Morgan said. "Institutions have a choice. Their boards of visitors can set tuitions and fees to levels they deem necessary, but we're recommending the Commonwealth focus its limited resources to encourage institutions to keep increases reasonable"
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