by Alexa Schwerha and Jared Gould
All but one public university in Virginia are taking steps to address students’ tuition burden after a call to action from the governor.
Earlier this year, Glenn Youngkin requested that the commonwealth’s public universities reverse their planned tuition increases, citing inflation.
The University of Virginia (UVA) is the only public university not to announce a plan to reverse its tuition increase. NBC29 reports that UVA students will see a 4.7% tuition and fee increase, raising rates for first-year in-state students to $14,878 and $50,348 for out-of-state students.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), James Madison University (JMU), Virginia Military Institute (VMI), the University of Mary Washington (UMW), Longwood University (LU), and Old Dominion University (ODU) have all promised to reverse fee increases.
UVA is also the only university in the commonwealth to be ranked in the top 30 national universities by U.S. News.
As Campus Reform has previously reported, 90% of US top 30 schools increased tuition to keep up with record-high inflation.
The decision was made by the university’s Board of Visitors, which consists of 17 governor appointees tasked with making policy changes, hiring decisions, and budget approvals.
UVA Spokesperson Brian Coy said to NBC29 that the university will not adjust its tuition rates, citing an “extensive analysis of current economic conditions and University needs, as well as a well-advertised public comment session.”
Governor Youngkin has taken steps to reform higher education in the state of Virginia, including making changes to the Board of Visitors.
On June 30, Youngkin appointed four new members to the board, including Bert Ellis, the president of the Jefferson Council who has been a critic of the board and UVA.
Citing that the university is “overrun with courses that exist for no other purpose but to make a big deal about race and gender,” according to The Jefferson Council, Ellis positions himself in opposition to woke policies and curriculum.
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Alexa Schwerha is a reporter for Campus Reform. She was the Regional Field Coordinator at Leadership Institute for Texas and New Mexico. She graduated Kent State University with a degree in Communication Studies and Political Science. Prior to her work at the Leadership Institute, she worked for the Ohio Republican Party to help elect Republicans across the state during the 2020 election cycle.
Photo “University of Virginia” by terren in Virginia. CC BY 2.0.
Since the Governor has executive authority to appoint the governing body of the university (a power which is constitutionally based), if the present Democrat-appointed Board of Visitors majority will not cooperate with the Republican Governor, why wait until the statutory term of office of the existing BOV members, one-by-one, expires to appoint new members (it is a rotating system where a few members’ term expires each year in rotation so that by the end of the Governor’s term of office he will have appointed the full board membership)? Just do what the Democrat Governors have done/would do–exercise his gubernatorial constitutional authority and remove and appoint as many BOV members as is necessary, right now, to bring the UVa BOV into line. The people of the Commonwealth should control. The people elect the Governor, and the Governor controls the Commonwealth’s public entities through its governing bodies. If such a body will not cooperate, replace it–asap!