Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 6, 1990 TAG: 9004061068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The State Board for Community Colleges approved a 3.9 percent tuition increase Thursday and added a 7.6 percent temporary surcharge to make up for state funding cuts.
Billy J. Kittrell, vice chancellor for administrative and fiscal affairs, said system officials hope to drop the surcharge in two years "when revenues begin to flow more freely in the commonwealth."
Costs for in-state students will increase from $26.60 per credit hour to $29.80 an hour for the 1990-91 session. For a full-time student taking 15 credit hours a semester, the annual cost will go up nearly $100, from $798 to $894.
"It's still the best buy in Virginia education today," said L. Jack Hite, a board member who heads the budget and finance committee.
"I think we've done as good as can be done," said Lawrence H. Framme III, the board chairman. "The possibility always exists that requests may come down to tighten even further."
The surcharge was imposed to cover half of a 5 percent budget cut ordered for the community college system and other state agencies over the next two years. The 23 community colleges, which must cut $9.4 million a year, would need approval from Gov. Douglas Wilder before increasing the surcharge to cover more than half the state funding cut.
"The governor would be very, very reluctant to approve a request for the second half," Kittrell said.
On Monday, Wilder told college presidents that he was concerned about recent tuition increases at several universities. If schools don't cut costs, they could become too expensive for many Virginia families, he said.
About 210,000 students use the community college system each year, the equivalent of 69,500 full-time students. The 1,450 full-time students from outside Virginia pay tuition five times higher than the state rate.
Jeff Hockaday, the system's chancellor, said he has projected enrollment to remain steady next year even though tuition increases usually lead to a decline in students at the two-year schools.
"There's just no real way of knowing," he said.
Hockaday said the increase was held to under $30 a credit hour because community college presidents told him enrollment would drop dramatically if the increase amounted to $35 or more.
by CNB