Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Is There Any End to Virginia College Tuition Hikes?

—

by

James A. Bacon
in

The old excuse of Virginia colleges and universities for rising tuitions — we’re just making up for past freezes and rollbacks ordered by the General Assembly — is beginning to wear thin. Here are some numbers from a Daily Press article drawing upon a Monday report by the College Board.

The average price of community college in the United States is $2,361, compared to $2,556 in Virginia. The average price of a public four-year institution is $6,185 nationwide, compared to $7,005 in Virginia. Students attending four-year, private universities in Virginia get a break, according to the report. Across the country, tuition and fees rose 6.3 percent, to $23,712; in Virginia they rose 5 percent, to $21,454. …

The prices at four-year public universities in Virginia went up by 7 percent this year to $7,005 per year. Countrywide, students saw their fees rise by 6.6 percent to $6,185.

Bottom line: Virginia college tuitions aren’t just “catching up” with national averages — they’re surging ahead.

Question: Is there a point — any point — at which Virginia institutions of higher education will concede that they’ve made up for the freezes and rollbacks? Or will they simply charge what the market will bear as long as they can get away with it?

Update: Jeff Kraus with the Virginia Community College System notes in the comment section that the College Board report inaccurately characterizes community college tuitions in Virginia. Here is the VCCS’s response. Here’s another response on VaHigherEd.com.

Share this article

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

Comments

15 responses to “Is There Any End to Virginia College Tuition Hikes?”

  1. Jeff Kraus Avatar
    Jeff Kraus

    Jim,

    I can tell you, when it comes to that report’s numbers for community colleges, they are wrong.

    We are working to set the record straight: http://www.vccs.edu/NewsEvents/NewsReleases/tabid/250/newsid584/209/Default.aspx

    Thanks,
    Jeff Kraus
    Virginia’s Community Colleges

  2. Jeff Kraus Avatar
    Jeff Kraus

    Jim,

    Here’s an even more complete look at just how bad the College Board figures are.

    http://vahighered.com/2007/10/23/lies-damned-lies-and-the-college-board/

    Thanks,
    Jeff Kraus
    Virginia’s Community Colleges

  3. Darrell -- Chesapeake Avatar
    Darrell — Chesapeake

    You know, I’m gettin kinda old and feebleminded, and my hillbilly math skills were never much good at counting past 20, but this average cost thing has me puzzled.

    You see, down here in Tidewater they charge a per credit rate of $90.50 at the community college. And if you look at the program descriptions, there are recommended courses per semester. Now I suppose that means that someone trying to complete an AS degree in 4 semesters would have to take 18 credits. Which gives us a grand total of 3258 per year not including the outrageous prices for books.

    Of course no one really takes that many credits, because the college doesn’t offer all needed courses each semester. So a more realistic expectation is 12 credits in the spring and fall, with 6 during the summer. A total of 30 per year at a cost of $2715 plus books. Notice that is a bit more than what’s being mentioned, and doesn’t include the cost of those pesky pre-req courses that most people have to take before they even get to real degree counting courses.

    Which is why I don’t get this average cost deal. A more realistic number, especially for community colleges offering vocational type degrees, is the total cost of actually getting that degree. That’s because their competition isn’t another community college that charges the same amount. They are really going against the third party commercial outfits offering overpriced degrees for the same curricula.

    So why not do what they do? Offer a complete package at a set price, with the financial arrangements made for the entire course instead of this every semester jamming up the finance department with ticked off students who got gouged once again.

    Oh, and add some career counselors who really do know what they are doing. Nothing like taking a bunch of pre-reqs in order to take a required course that was equivalent to a course already awarded by an out of state college. Then finding out two years later that the course was transferable at full credit.

  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Trani is planning to raise student fees in order to pay for VCU’s latest encroachment into Oregon Hill, despite his past promises not to develop the campus south of Cary St. He cannot be trusted.

    The State has surrendered its oversight role when it comes to state universities. Citizens and students beware.

  5. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    I do have a soft spot for Community Colleges (perhaps unwarranted). In my own mind I see them as the safety net for those in high school who.. for any number of reasons.. cannot get to a 4 year environment… but are interested in obtaining career employment…

    but I too wonder like Darrel, as to why these schools do not compete or price and selection.

    and I have dark, unclean thoughts about the connection between the state level of funding – and productivity and efficiency and claims by the advocates that say
    we cannot put a dollar cost on a well-rounded education and that to try to do so would result be “misguided”.

    I, on the other hand, think that efforts to raise my taxes for functions that may not be effective are “misguided”. 🙂

    I see Community Colleges with a large (but not exclusive) focus on workforce training for higher tech fields that require a good technical basis (which implies a good ability to read and write).

    Take any medical technologist these days. You know.. that gal moving that MRI machine right next to your right eye… and shooting beams through your skull….

    You’d feel a LOT better if you didn’t hear them say.. “I wonder what this key that sez “super zapper with the words (extreme caution)….is for”, wouldn’t you?

    🙂

    but my basic complaint with respect to Community Colleges is no different than it is with VDOT and K-12 education and that is the lack of standard performance metrics that demonstrate a connection between funding and quanity/quality of services/products.

    These institutions will readily agree on the idea of performance standards only if they are the ones to define them AND they want the ability to pick and choose which ones to use.. depending on what the latest results show.

    what we get is an endless rope-a-dope PR enumerated list of “successes” that can change according to what the good news of the day should be – as opposed to a laser focus on their mission with specific metrics that cannot be ‘spun’.

    What I would like to see is JLARC audits and reviews become the baseline for establishing performance standards and that it not be optional for any organization that is taxpayer funded.

    That it, in fact, becomes the required process for Community Colleges (and other) institutions.

    JLARC is the Rodney Dangerfield of Virginia Government.

    I’ll be that half the words in Bacon’s Rebellion is about government waste and inefficiency .. as well as mismatches between agencies perceived mission and actual accomplishments.

    I don’t mind “investments” but I resent money not accounted for properly as being characterized as “investments” especially when the “more” word is invoked.

  6. Jeff Kraus Avatar
    Jeff Kraus

    Larry,

    We have metrics at Virginia’s Community Colleges. A strategic plan of tangible, measurable goals called “Dateline 2009” was established in 2003 to provide a transparent plan for our system of community colleges and a way to measure performance.

    You can find that here: http://www.vccs.edu/WhoWeAre/Dateline2009/tabid/101/Default.aspx.

    That website also includes performance updates on a regular basis.

    Is that what you are seeking?

    Jeff Kraus

  7. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    This is a great thread. I hope Virginia will aspire to the academic excellence achieved by, say, Arkansas or Mississippi. W&M, UVA, VT, GMU – if those schools want to charge so much they can just move to NY.

  8. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    Jeff – no… sorry.. this is what I call “spin”. sorry…

    We need standard performance stats across the board that allow us to compare in terms of quality and quantity.

    No Community College should feel that they are entitled to state funds. Is is.. at that point. it no longer is about the student but the institution.

    So.. I would like to see standardized metrics – across the board – and the data is collected and processed – not by the college but by JLARC or APC or similiar.

    When limited dollars are being allocated at the GA – I want to see the elected looking at the performance of the colleges competing for more money.

    And when a college wants to raise it rates.. I want, again, to see the data that justifies the increase and again.. by comparing against others- and especially so if the college has top notch metrics (or crappy metrics).

    WE need metrics. Customers need them but the Colleges need them also even if they won’t admit it.

  9. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    Devil’s Advocate point:

    This blog has a running theme of letting “free enterprise” do anything that “free enterprise” can do.

    Roads too crowded?

    Turn them over to “free enterprise” and let the markets charge tolls and build new roads.

    Oil prices too high?

    Let “free enterprise” devise new alternative energy.

    So I wonder why the “free enterprise” advocates think the state should be in the college business at all. Why doesn’t Virginia divest itself of all colleges and universities and let “free enterprise” handle the matter?

  10. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Groveton, You make a provocative point. Why not privatize all the state universities — and, I would add, end all direct state subsidies to the colleges / universities and, instead, pay the funds to the students, G.I. Bill style?

    To a free enterpriser, it sounds like a good idea. Trouble is, I’m not sure that private college / universities are much of an improvement. Why? First, they are not-for-profits. Private, not-for-profit universities are not driven by a quest to serve their customers (their students), they are driven by the agendas of their administrations and faculties. This is manifested in the way they engage in intense competition, not for profitability, but for prestige and rankings.

    Second, many private institutions build up huge endowments that insulte themselves from accountability to anyone. Admittedly, institutions like GMU, VCU or Longwood would have very small endowments to start with, but they undoubtedly would follow the same path at UVa and VT.

    I suspect that we’ll have to evolve an entirely different model of higher education.

  11. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    Don’t look now but as NCLB and the SOLs start to take hold – we’re seeing the development of private “tutoring” schools.

    I’d be in favor of Groveton’s proposal with one caveat.

    That for means-tested students that the state promises a higher education to any kid who makes the grades – not EVERY Kid – but the ones who do not have the financial resources.

    AND – I’d also offer education funds to kids who want to put in community service.

    The problem with our Universities and Colleges is the same problem that we have with any government-funded institution and that is that they become an institution unto themeselves and resistant.. and even hostile to customer service.

    Assured funding breeds arrogance not only in institutional demeanor but in their policies.. their willingness to change/improve.. and right on down to a willingness to use performance metrics chosen not by them but by their customers.

    I don’t think tax-funded institutions of higher education should decide who can attend but rather an independent agency whose sole job is to make sure that kids who get good grades will get into a college and will receive a means-tested voucher if appropriate.

    I would like to see a letter than a student receives that says:

    “Congratulations – your State and NAEP test scores entitle and gaurantee you the right to attend your choice of the following institutions of higher education – and your voucher (determined by means testing) is: $xxx.xx

    by the way.. I alluded to accountability of our Community Colleges… How many folks know that Virginia’s Auditor of Public Accounts – evaluates our Community Colleges/Universites and generates reports for all to see?

    http://www.apa.state.va.us/reports/category_search.asp?T1=University

    Here’s a quick question.

    How many of our taxpayer-supported Universities and Colleges put the APA LINK on their websites for all to see?

    If I were King – I’d say that any University or College in Va that receives public funds … MUST – put a link to APA and JLARC reports for their institution.

    Where are our Republican “bold thinkers” on this issue?

  12. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    Here’s some light reading for those who might think that higher tution fees are not really a Virginia Government/Taxpayer issue:

    Virginia’s institutions of higher education have developed unique and independent financial operating
    models. These institutions also have a widely varying level of fiscal sophistication and financial
    management. As we have reviewed the debt capacity of various institutions, it is clear that one model, even
    general in nature, would not provide an effective tool for either the Commonwealth or the individual
    institutions.

    We therefore make the following recommendations.

    1. Each institution should develop and use a debt capacity model approved by the institution’s
    Board of Visitors and compliant with the guidelines of the Secretary of Finance and the State
    Council of Higher Education.

    2. The debt capacity model should include a component, which considers the effect of debt
    service on the cost of attendance.

    3. The General Assembly may wish to have the Debt Capacity Advisory Committee review the
    institutions’ debt capacity models and periodically report on how the institutions are using
    them and their results.

    Finally, the Commonwealth needs to evaluate these various debt capacity models to determine the
    extent institutions are affecting the Commonwealth’s debt capacity and bond rating. Although, the
    institutions have received exemptions from certain state regulations or laws, their actions continue to have a
    direct effect on the Commonwealth. The financial analysts do not separate the actions of the institutions of
    higher education from the Commonwealth’s overall financial status and bond rating. The use of joint
    ventures with other organizations also could have an impact on the Commonwealth in the financial markets, if
    they believe that the Commonwealth will assume a guarantor role in these arrangements.

    hmm.. this sounds pretty serious

    so.. everytime I hear the “no more taxes” crowd.. and folks ask for specifics… they apparently don’t have a clue ..even with low-hanging fruit like this.

    anyone actually interested in good government?

  13. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    geeze.. I forgot the link:

    http://www.apa.state.va.us/data/download/reports/audit_local/DebtCapacity06.pdf

  14. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    re: You can find that here: http://www.vccs.edu/WhoWeAre/Dateline2009/tabid/101/Default.aspx.

    I did spend more time on the website and it would be fair to give credit for what has been done.

    I like the idea of metrics and annaul reports with respect to those metrics.

    The reason why I used the “spin” word is that goals are not performance metrics in that they are not comparative.

    For instance, we have goals for Virginia’s Community Colleges in general but how does this info help a person in SW Virginia know how their College is doing?

    In order for goals to be metrics – there has to be a level of accountability of performance.

    If, for example, one of the Community Colleges is not doing well on some of the goals – that needs to be disclosed and it needs to be on a public list of things that will be addressed….

    and an annual report card on progress.

    This data needs to be at least as much a consumer guide to knowing and choosing as it needs to be a chest-beating Powerpoint.. designed by Community College folks to give their colleagues Kudos – on the things of interest to them.

    I’ve alluded before to a concept called Balanced Scorecards which basically is a process where customers participate in deciding what performance metrics should be kept and reported.

    I do appreciate that within each Agency.. whether it be the Community Colleges, VDOT or DEQ that they like to talk and goals and accomplishments – and that is important I agree – but it’s how those things serve people that I feel means that the people obstensibly being served play a strong role in the selection of the metrics… and comprability data for peer groups.

    Hardlly anyone I know likes someone else determining the measuring metrics – even if they are customers but the agencies who choose to do exactly that are making a statement about their mission and purpose and so are the agencies who choose not to do that.

    Community Colleges in Virginia serve a vital need – theirs is a true mission that needs to be performed but cost-effectiveness still applies.

  15. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Interesting that VCCS says that average ANNUAL tuition for a FULL-TIME student is $2400.

    I wonder why I paid just shy of $1000 in August for my son’s NINE credit hours. That’s not even full time for ONE semester, let alone annually?

    The reason is that Virginia’s “tuition” is not high – but the mandatory per-semester “fees” are enormous.

    And the books for just these TWO classes – $350.

Leave a Reply

Read More