THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 50 lines
Members of the armed services, their spouses and dependents are part of the lifeblood of Hampton Roads. The adults coach Little League teams, volunteer in schools and help raise money for the United Way. The families eat at local restaurants, purchase autos and sneakers and pay hefty real-estate commissions when they buy homes in the area. They tithe at local churches, pay taxes on self-run businesses and support dozens of community activities.
But when it comes to earning credits at local colleges, those who have not formally transferred their residency to Virginia are treated as outsiders. They pay out-of-state tuition rates several times higher than the fees paid by in-state students.
The General Assembly should find a way to correct this imbalance between what a valuable group of people is contributing to the state and what it is receiving in return.
Forty-seven other states reward the sacrifices made by service personnel by treating them as state residents for tuition purposes. Virginia should join the pack.
The argument against such generosity is a fiscal one. For instance, Old Dominion University officials estimate that the school would lose $3 million a year if it were to charge service personnel and dependents at in-state rates.
A bill considered - and rejected - earlier this week by a House Appropriations subcommittee would have given state colleges the option of adopting in-state rates for service personnel and dependents. The full committee will consider the idea later, but the panel usually follows the recommendations of its subcommittees.
The bill was voted down after ODU President James V. Koch, who said he supports the concept, argued against the local-option bill. In the real-world competition for students, he said, one college's lowering tuition rates would force others to follow suit. And without compensation from the General Assembly, the revenue loss would pose difficulties.
Virginia has a law allowing one year of tuition at in-state rates for the spouses and dependents of nonresident service personnel. But the Assembly stopped funding the provision a few years ago during a budget crunch.
If Virginia cannot afford four years of tuition at in-state rates for service families, the least lawmakers should do is to fund the provision currently on the books. The price was estimated a few years ago at $5 million. While the sum undoubtedly has grown, it should not be so large as to be out of reach in nonrecessionary times.
Asking politicians to subsidize a group of people who cannot vote for them demands unusual altruism, perhaps. But the sacrifices and the contributions made by service personnel and their families merit such reward. by CNB