THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1996 TAG: 9603150440
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Community college students Thursday became the first in a long line of Virginia students who will be getting a welcome bit of news this spring: No tuition increase next year.
But students at Tidewater Community College - and some four-year schools - may see small increases in other fees, officials predict.
The State Board for Community Colleges on Thursday approved holding tuition steady for Virginia's 23 two-year schools. The vote was in keeping with the legislature's mandate Sunday to freeze tuition at all public colleges for the next two years.
For 1996-97, the rate for Virginians at community colleges will stay at $46.65 per credit hour, plus a $1-per-hour fee for technology. For a student taking a full load of 30 credits a year, that comes to $1,430 annually.
TCC, however, has additional fees, which might go up slightly.
It assesses $4.35 an hour - or $130.50 annually - for student activities and services such as parking and security. President Larry L. Whitworth said TCC's board may raise those fees, but by no more than $1 - or an extra $30 a year maximum.
At TCC's Virginia Beach campus, students were predictably relieved by the board's action. ``To me, it's a good deal,'' said Victor Allende, an engineering student. ``It's a fixed rate you can count on.''
Shari Aldridge had to leave TCC last year because her parents were short of money. She hopes the freeze will allow her to finish her studies when she returns in the summer. ``I just hope they keep it from going up until I graduate,'' she said.
The freeze approved by the General Assembly covers only tuition. It does not apply to other fees, such as those for health services or student activities.
Dan Hix, senior finance coordinator for the State Council of Higher Education, predicted small increases statewide in the fees, which generally make up a quarter to half of the amount that colleges list as ``tuition and fees.''
``You would think there would be some pressure to keep them in line,'' he said. ``I would imagine the overall increase (in tuition and fees) would be pretty close to what inflation is - 3 percent.''
The freeze is mandated only for students who are Virginia residents, but the community college board also froze the rate for out-of-staters at $4,680 a year, not including the technology fee.
The community colleges enroll 130,000 students. About 27,000 go to four local schools - TCC, Paul D. Camp, Thomas Nelson and Eastern Shore.
The two-year freeze was the brainchild of the State Council of Higher Education. But Gov. George F. Allen had lobbied, instead, for ``tuition contracts,'' which would have capped annual increases to the rate of inflation indefinitely.
Allen said that would provide greater security against a repeat of the double-digit tuition rises. College officials, though, said the long-term contracts might leave them short of funds if they didn't get additional aid from the state.
So legislators this month agreed to add $100 million to Allen's 1996-98 budget for operating expenses for colleges - and to freeze tuition through that period. Overall, the state council has calculated that colleges will get an extra $217 million in state aid during the next two years, or a 14 percent increase.
The colleges aren't complaining, and neither is Allen. In his address to legislators Monday, Allen proclaimed the freeze a victory in his effort to stop tuition increases. It ``sets a powerful precedent, and future governors and legislators will remove it only at their peril,'' he said.
The contracts would have been the most stringent measure taken by any state to clamp down on tuition costs. But even the two-year freeze is probably unprecedented, said John Hammang, director of state relations for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Some states, such as California, have approved freezes, but only for one year.
Hammang, too, applauded the legislators' actions: ``It sounds very reasonable: What they have done is hold down tuition, which ought to help improve access to Virginia colleges and universities, and they have provided sufficient funding to take care of inflationary costs.''
TCC officials also got what they wanted from legislators: an additional $3.5 million to pay for staff and equipment for their new campus in Norfolk, which is planned to open early next year.
``The Norfolk funding was exactly what we asked for,'' said Whitworth, TCC's president. ``We are getting the things we need to make the experience a quality experience.'' by CNB