The Board of Visitors approved tuition increases yesterday for the 2009-10 school year. Tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students will increase by about 5 percent — or $375 — to $7,873, while the out-of-state figure will increase by about 7.5 percent to $29,873. The price of meal plans, meanwhile, will increase by about 5.4 percent on average, while the price of undergraduate housing will increase by 5.1 percent.
The money will pay for the increasing costs of services such as utilities, the Student Systems Project and the AccessUVa program, said Melody Bianchetto, assistant vice president for budget and financial planning.
Graduate student tuition and fees for housing and meal plans will also increase, according to a University press release. In-state graduate student tuition will increase $495 to $12,635, while the out-of-state costs will also increase by $495 to a total of $22,635. Darden students also will face tuition increases, with both in- and out-of-state rates rising by $3000, increasing the in-state total to $43,500 and the out-of-state total to $48,500, according to the press release.
In-state and out-of-state Law School tuition and fees, meanwhile, will increase by $2,000, bringing the in-state figure to $38,800, while the out-of-state total will be $43,800. Medical School tuition and fees will increase by $1750 for continuing in-state and out-of-state students, according to the press release. In-state students will pay $34,400, while out-of-state students will pay $44,400. Entering medical students will pay about $750 more than continuing students.
These increases, though, are less than what University officials had originally planned.
“The University had anticipated greater in state increases and in fact our six-year plan predicted that we would be more in the 9 to 10 percent range for this year,” University spokesperson Carol Wood said, noting that the University feared the worst because of state budget cuts. “Recent allocations of 10.7 million in temporary funding through the Reinvestment and Recovery Act will allow for a partial mitigation of instate tuition creases over the next two years.”
The tuition increases “should keep us basically at what we need to operate,” Bianchetto said. “We’ve had budget reductions from the state for the third year in a row ... At the same time, there are cost increases that we need to fund.”
For example, the University is spending more on utility bills and the Student Systems Project that runs and provides technical support for the Student Information System. In addition, about one-third of the money from tuition increases will be committed to AccessUVa, Bianchetto said.
“We’re expecting that there’ll be greater [financial] need this year because of economic circumstances,” Bianchetto said.
Wood added that the University is dedicated to providing the same financial aid to students in need as it currently does, despite the economic downturn. The University is expecting to increase funding to AccessUVa by $10 million, she said.
“The University is not stepping back in any way from our commitment to AcessUVa or meeting 100 percent of our students’ need,” Wood said.
The Student Systems Project, meanwhile, introduces the costs of technology updates, Bianchetto said. The University has to pay for the system’s software and licensing, as well as the costs of running a help desk, Bianchetto said.
“ISIS was an old home-grown system that really hadn’t been updated or kept to date on technology,” Bianchetto said. “[The University was] really just putting band-aids on it to hold it together until we got to the new technology.”
Out-of-state students will have to pay an extra $224 to an “out-of-state debt service” fee, which now totals $442, Bianchetto said. The fee is required by the commonwealth and helps cover the cost of state-funded construction, Bianchetto said.
The $1,755 student auxiliary fee paid by each student has not increased, according to the press release. This fee covers services such as athletics, student health, recreational facilities, Newcomb Hall, the University Transit Service, Safe Ride, a Microsoft licensing fee and a technology fee that covers projects such as the construction on the South Lawn, Bianchetto said.
Though the tuition increases contribute to the University’s finances, the University’s overall budget has not yet been set, Bianchetto noted.
“Tuition is just one step in planning the budget,” Bianchetto said. “We have to look at all the cost increases that are coming in to [the University]. We have different revenue sources ... we’re pooling all that together, and we’ll have a proposal to the Board in June.”
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