DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709250355

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   76 lines

RISE IN COLLEGE COSTS SLOWS IN VIRGINIA BUT TUITION AND FEES AT STATE SCHOOLS STILL RANK AMONG THE NATION'S COSTLIEST.

A national tuition study released Wednesday offers Virginia parents and college students a mix of relief and indigestion:

Virginia's college costs this year went up only half as fast as they did throughout the nation. But the average tuition and fees in the state are still roughly $1,000 more a year than the national figure.

Nationwide, average tuition and fees for in-state students went up 4.6 percent - to $3,111 a year - at four-year public colleges this fall, according to the report from the College Board.

In Virginia, by comparison, tuition and fees went up only 2.2 percent this year, thanks to the tuition freeze approved by Gov. George F. Allen and the General Assembly. The freeze does not apply to non-education-related fees, such as those for student activities or health services.

The average total in Virginia now is $4,095 - nearly $1,000 more than the national figure - according to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. State officials estimate that the state this year ranks among the eight with the highest college costs.

``The good news in Virginia is that tuition and fees are rising less rapidly than they used to,'' said James V. Koch, president of Old Dominion University, ``and I expect that to continue through the year 2000.''

The news isn't good enough for Heather Robison, a 17-year-old home-schooled student in Chesapeake who had hoped to start college next year. She'll have to delay it for a few years, working instead as a secretary, because her mother can't afford the tuition.

Robison said it's time for the government to greatly increase loans and grants. ``It would probably reduce the crime rate,'' she said. ``We've got a lot of problems with a lot of people who aren't educated enough to get jobs.''

High college costs have been a longstanding gripe for many parents and students in Virginia. But not all are complaining. James Mossman of Virginia Beach - whose daughter, Jill, is a junior at James Madison University - said: ``I don't think it's too high; I think it's pretty reasonable for the quality of education she gets.''

Virginia never has been cheap for tuition, but it got worse with the state recession of the early '90s.

State aid to colleges was cut by more than 20 percent. In turn, then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and the legislature permitted the schools hefty tuition increases to help make up the lost income. Some colleges approved annual increases surpassing 10, even 15, percent.

After Allen was elected in 1993, he and the legislature approved capping tuition increases at 3 percent a year. In 1996, they went a step farther, approving a two-year tuition freeze. Both candidates for governor - Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr. and Republican James S. Gilmore III - have pledged to continue the freeze, which is set to expire next year.

But Koch said that's only half the story. ``We need to come through on the other end with additional state funds'' for colleges, he said.

In the 1996-98 biennium, state legislators approved a $230 million increase in higher-education funding. Even so, state officials say, Virginia remains among the eight states with the least per-student funding. Neither candidate has promised a big increase in funding for colleges.

Koch said, ``We're in the top 10 nationally (in tuition), but in the bottom 10 in state support. It probably would be better if we were 25th in each. . .

John D. Padgett, a Norfolk lawyer who serves as vice chairman of the State Council of Higher Education, said the College Board study is ``another indication of why we have to keep on emphasizing the freeze. Accessibility is important, and we can't price ourselves out of the market.''

California has gone one step farther: Earlier this month, its legislature voted to reduce tuition by 5 percent. Padgett's not sure he wants to do that.

``I think that we need to not rock the boat,'' he said. ``We know where we want to go, but we've got to get there fairly carefully. The schools do have needs that have not been met.''

In terms of room and board, Virginia is also narrowing the gap with the national average.

Nationwide, public colleges reported a 4.7 percent increase in room and board, to $4,361 a year. Virginia's average rose 2.8 percent, to $4,506. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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