ACTA's Must-Reads
« South Carolina's institutions march toward fiscal transparency | Main | Ohio Board of Regents offers new proposal to increase autonomy of public institutions »
Tuition costs to climb yet again in Virginia
Like the size of our national debt, it seems there is no stopping ever rising tuition prices. The Washington Examiner reported on August 2 that Virginia students are in for another round of tuition hikes -- this time to the tune of almost 8 percent. And this comes after last year's 10.6 percent increase.
Times are tough for everybody, but tuition increases are not inevitable, particularly when institutions -- like those in Virginia -- are seeing an increase in state appropriations, rather than the decrease seen in so many other states.
Going forward, it's time for trustees to step in and take a deeper look at the fiscal practices of the colleges they oversee. At the University of Missouri, trustees and the president have been able to find massive cuts in administrative expenses, and they've closed down a range of unproductive programs, saving millions of dollars. Arizona State University chipped away at its rigid departmental structure and found that a more fluid structure led to less course overlap -- and less money wasted. Schools have options when faced with challenging times: They can take serious, decisive action to reduce waste and reallocate funding rather than passing the bill onto students, two-thirds of whom are straining under an average of $23,000 in debt.
Posted by dburnett on August 09, 2011 at August 9, 2011 02:57 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.goactablog.org/blog/mt-tb.cgi/976