DATE: Saturday, October 11, 1997            TAG: 9710110435

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   34 lines

STATE EDUCATION BOARD EXPECTED TO EXTEND IN-STATE TUITION FREEZE

The State Council of Higher Education on Friday delayed voting on college budget recommendations for the 1998-2000 biennium. But the members signaled support for several items:

Continuing the tuition freeze for in-state undergraduates.

Allotting $62 million more for student financial aid over the next two years. That would allow the state to meet 50 percent of students' financial need, after other grants are taken into account. Now, the state meets only 35 percent of need.

Increasing the annual Tuition Assistance Grant to Virginians who go to private colleges from $2,000 to $2,500 a year. The grants go to about 13,000 students at schools including Hampton, Regent and Virginia Wesleyan.

State officials say the program, the college equivalent of vouchers, helps relieve overcrowding in state-supported colleges and reduces state costs. The state spends twice as much - $5,000 - for educating each Virginian in a state-supported four-year school.

The increase in the private grants would cost about $13 million.

The big-ticket item, faculty raises, is still up in the air.

The council's staff has recommended $110 million for annual 5.7 percent raises over the next two years. But council vice chairman John D. Padgett repeated his suggestion to spread the raises over four years to reduce costs.

That would cut only $19 million from the total cost, associate council director Peter Blake said.

The council is expected to send its budget recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly in November. KEYWORDS: TUITION FREEZE

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