
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 11, 1995                   TAG: 9504180036
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

TECH BOARD VOTES TO LIMIT RISE IN TUITION

Concerned that they're pricing themselves out of the the market, Virginia Tech's board of visitors agreed Monday to raise out-of-state tuition by 3 percent next year.

That's the same amount tuition for in-state students will go up, limited by a cap set by the state last year.

Tuition and fees for in-state students will be $7,207. Out-of-state students will pay $13,859.

Tech President Paul Torgersen also unveiled "The Virginia Tech Pledge" to all students. It strives to control costs and ensure that undergraduate lecture classes will be taught by full-time faculty, including distinguished faculty. Also, all incoming students will be assigned academic advisers during summer orientation to help the students get through college in four years.

Acknowledging that Tech used to be "a bargain" for out-of-state students, Torgersen noted that those same students are leaving mid-year now because they can't afford the school.

Kevin LeClaire, a graduating senior from Maryland who serves on the board, applauded the effort to hold down tuition costs.

But he also said it came "perhaps a little too late, because we already lost 530 students" since 1990.

by CNB