U.Va. Increases Tuition by $655 for In-State Undergraduate Students

April 12, 2007 -- The University of Virginia's Board of Visitors voted today to increase in-state, undergraduate tuition and fees by $655 annually for the 2007-08 academic year. Out-of-state students will pay an additional $1,805.

This fall, undergraduate Virginians will pay $8,500 in tuition and fees, an increase of 8.3 percent above the 2006-07 figures. The total cost of education — including tuition, fees, housing, and dining — will increase by 7.9 percent to $16,133 for in-state undergraduate students living on the Grounds.

Non-Virginians will pay 7.0 percent more or $27,750 in tuition and fees. The total bill, including housing and dining, will increase by 7.1 percent to $35,383 for non-Virginian undergraduates.

At the same time that the board set the new tuition and fees, it also voted to increase the annual budget for AccessUVA, the university's innovative financial aid program, by more than $2.7 million to almost $54 million.

Under AccessUVa, the University meets 100 percent of students' financial need. Students whose family incomes are at or below an amount representing 200 percent of the federal poverty line — $37,700 for a family of four — will have their full need met by the University; others will have their loans capped at 25 percent of the total, in-state cost of four years of education at U.Va.

The new tuition figures meet the guidelines of the Tuition Incentive Fund, which provides an incentive to Virginia colleges and universities to limit undergraduate rate increases, and are also consistent with the University's Six-Year Plan, approved in September 2005 and submitted to the commonwealth as required under the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act.

According to Leonard Sandridge, U.Va.’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, the goal is to provide incremental revenues to fund University priorities and to meet unavoidable cost increases.

Chief among the priorities to be funded are competitive salaries for faculty and staff, affordability through AccessUVA, core investments in academic programs, deferred maintenance on Grounds and such other items as utility, lease, property insurance and safety requirements.

“In setting the University's tuition each year, we remain mindful of the need to keep our costs affordable for students and parents. The University has always been considered a value, and we want it to remain so,” said Sandridge. “In addition, our commitment to the success of AccessUVa continues to be a priority.”

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