Item by Chris Graham
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Virginia community-college students will pay a little more in the next academic year.
The State Board for Community Colleges voted this week to raise tuition and mandatory fees by a total of $6 per credit hour – impacting students taking a full load of 15 credits per semester $180 for the entirety of the school year.
“A record number of students are attending our colleges, and we are committed to serving them,” said Mark Graham, chairman of the State Board. “No one celebrates a tuition increase. We are firmly committed, however, to an open-door policy of affordable access and this is what’s needed to accommodate the men and women who are using our classes to elevate their lives.”
The board also voted to increase the financial aid available to both part-time and full-time students. Virginia community-college students will have access to a total of $27.6 million on non-federal finnncial aid in the coming school year.
“As state leaders assembled this year’s budget, they were mindful of the impact tuition increases have on family budgets and we share their concerns,” said Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges. “Like them, we are working hard to hold tuition to the lowest possible level while striking a careful balance between affordability and quality. We look forward to our continued partnership with them to maintain our community colleges as an affordable on-ramp to higher education.”
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