|

Virginia Governor Proposes a De Facto 50% Tax on Tuition Increase for a State-Funded University

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today points to a conflict in Virginia in which Virginia Commonwealth University raised tuition and the governor proposes to cut its state appropriation by half of the added tuition revenue. One can look at this take-away as a punishment for raising tuition, as the article below does. Or one can consider it to be a way in which the state effectively grabs some tuition money for its own budgetary purposes. Your choice.

Either way, this development is a cautionary note about the politics of tuition increases at public universities.

The article:

McDonnell punishes VCU for tuition increase (excerpt):

Tyler Whitley, Dec. 18, 2010, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Gov. Bob McDonnell said Friday that he has withheld state money equal to half of Virginia Commonwealth University’s 24 percent tuition increase as a message to colleges and universities about rising tuition rates. Noting that tuitions for Virginia students have doubled in the past 10 years, McDonnell said, “That is unacceptable.” McDonnell on Friday proposed a number of budget amendments in remarks to the General Assembly’s money committees. The room was lined with lobbyists.

VCU raised tuition and fees by $1,700 for in-state undergraduates — the largest increase in the state. VCU expected the increase to generate $33.4 million. McDonnell is proposing to withhold $17 million. In a statement, VCU President Michael Rao said the proposed action “directly affects VCU’s ability to continue providing a quality education and ensure that students graduate on time.” He said tuition at VCU is still below the state average and said the tuition increase was approved by the board at a time when VCU was losing federal stimulus funding and state financial support. He said that VCU does not rely on out-of-state students who pay higher tuition, and that VCU has cut costs so much in recent years that the quality of instruction has been undermined…

Full article at http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/dec/18/tdmain01-mcdonnell-punishes-vcu-for-tuition-increa-ar-723886/

The short item in Inside Higher Ed is at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/12/20/qt#246329

However, you look at it, the take-away message from this news item is that added revenue from tuition can be taken away, absent some kind of accord with the powers-that-be in the state. Anyone at UCOP talking to Jerry?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9s950VfMxA&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Similar Posts

  • |

    Report: Affordable Public Higher Education is Possible Today

    Byuclafaculty

    A report this week from Reclaim California Higher Education (a coalition of faculty and student groups) makes the case that affordable (even free) higher education is within reach for California. The privatization experiment has failed. The harm to a generation of hard-working, high-aiming young people is proven. It’s time to return to what works: the proven Master Plan for higher education in California. California, with its own resources, can afford to restore top-quality, accessible, affordable college and university opportunity to every qualified student. In fact, Californians can afford nothing less. You can read a summary and download the entire report…

  • | |

    Jerry Brown Suggests Master Plan is Dated

    Byuclafaculty

    Our previous post covered the Jan. 22 meeting of the Regents’ Committee on Educational Policy.  As noted, there was discussion of the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education, considered a major accomplishment of Brown’s father when he was governor. Below is a link to Brown’s comments in which he suggested the Plan was now dated.  [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RmjI4gVync?feature=player_detailpage]

  • | | | | | | | | |

    Tradition!

    Byuclafaculty

    The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has issued a report on UC and CSU funding.  LAO is usually viewed as a neutral agency.  But it is a component of the legislature.  So it tends to favor approaches that add to legislative control as opposed to, say, gubernatorial control.  This report is no exception. LAO seems to want to return to what it terms the “traditional” approach to funding, but with bells and whistles added to monitor legislative goals.  The traditional approach seems to be one focused on undergraduate enrollment.  But in fact the tradition – such as it is – has…

  • |

    7 Wasn’t So Lucky

    Byuclafaculty

    The cash statement from the California state controller for the first seven months of fiscal year 2013-14 is out.  Revenues are up about 1% from last year at this time.  That gain is not very good.  However, it may be largely due to an aberration last fiscal year when there was a surge of personal income tax revenue in January 2013.  The surge seemed to have something to do with antics back then in Washington over fiscal cliffs, etc., which might have resulted in some tax changes (but didn’t).  The current DC crisis de jour is the debt ceiling, but…

  • | |

    Contemplating Tuition, Motherhood, and Apple Pie

    Byuclafaculty

    Tuition is being studied up in Oakland by the UC prez, according to yesterday’s Daily Bruin: …“I want tuition to be as low as possible, and I want it to be as predictable as possible,” Napolitano said at a UC Board of Regents meeting in November.   In a recent Google Hangout with students from various UC campuses, students asked Napolitano to talk about her current work in reforming the UC’s tuition policy.  They also asked Napolitano how she plans to include student ideas in the reorganization of the tuition plan. Napolitano did not specify how student input would be…