The Virginian-Pilot 
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, February 13, 1996             TAG: 9602130272
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                    LENGTH: Medium:   57 lines

U.VA. BUSINESS STUDENTS CAN ADD COMPUTERS TO COST OF EDUCATION ALREADY, 61% OF UNDERGRADUATES OWN COMPUTERS, UNIVERSITY SAYS.

Some students at the University of Virginia will have to add the price of a personal computer to the cost of their educations.

U.Va.'s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration will require students to purchase computers beginning this fall. The undergraduate McIntire School of Commerce is considering a similar pilot program to test the idea, the board of visitors was told Friday.

``Personally, I think the most compelling reason is educational value,'' Polley McClure, U.Va.'s vice president for technology, said after a presentation to the board. ``I really think that students use computers as educational tools to a much greater extent when they own them, as opposed to having to go to a computer lab.''

With 17,000 students and 800 computers in labs throughout the university, McClure told the board that space never seems to meet the increasing computer demand.

Of undergraduates, 61 percent already own computers, and it's increasing, she said.

McClure said requiring computers would enable the university to standardize the computers and software that students purchase. It also would mean the university would not have to continually buy new and improved computers for labs.

But it also would mean an unspecified increase in educational costs for students and their parents.

She had no figures about potential savings for U.Va. by requiring students to buy their own computers - or cost increases for undergraduates.

At Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, N.C., which recently began requiring undergraduates to buy computers, costs increased $3,000 per year, McClure said.

``So many of our students already have them,'' said Darden spokeswoman Elaine Ruggieri. ``They need them and our classrooms will be all hooked up so they will be able to use them in class.''

In addition, Ruggieri said, students would be able to send electronic mail to professors and each other, search the Internet and even register for classes by computer.

Darden is recommending students purchase an IBM-compatible notebook computer, which costs about $2,500. In-state students currently pay $10,055 in tuition, while students from outside Virginia pay $19,137.

Ruggieri said because the computers are mandatory, they can be included in student financial aid requests.

With a limited amount of financial aid to go around, one concern, McClure said, is that middle-income students might find less money left in the pot if the computer costs are included. by CNB