UVA Finance Committee reviews budget requests for next Virginia budget

This is the final year that Governor Glenn Youngkin will have a chance to submit a budget for the Commonwealth of Virginia and staff at the University of Virginia have finalized a list of requests.

The UVA Board of Visitors and the Finance Committee were asked for their approval this week.

The Academic Division is asking for more funds to support an increase in students who are attending through the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program. The program has been in place since 1930 but the Commonwealth of Virginia has increased funding since 2019.

“We’ve seen, for example, a growth of 36 waivers back in 2019 to now, about 380 waivers annually and the growth rate is double digits,” said J.J. Davis, UVA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Davis said the increase has not come with an increase in dedicated funding from the state so now they’re formally asking for additional money to sustain what she called a meritorious program. UVA will ask for an additional $6,453,743 for FY2027 and an additional $8,226,855 for FY2028 to support further increases.

There’s an additional $205 million for the Center for the Arts in the Emmet Ivy corridor.

“The center for the Arts was initially put into the budget and approved and then it was line item vetoed with all other capital projects,” Davis said. “I think this was part of this sort of be more conservative and the economic headwinds.”

There is also $5 million request for design for a new building for the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The project is in the major capital plan and has a current cost estimate of $229 million.

“The current project concept contemplates 190,000 gross square foot and an estimated cost of about 229 million,” Davis said. “As a first step in this process, all we’re asking for is about $5 million in state funding for the planning process.”

Other requests:

• There’s also a request for nearly $6 million in both FY27 and FY28 to avoid the need for a tuition increase for in-state students.
• UVA Innovates is a platform that intends to promote and catalyze entrepreneurship and innovation to “create and grow successful new ventures through entrepreneurship and commercialization.” UVA is seeking $5 million in both FY27 and FY28 for a program under the heading “Strategic Infrastructure for Translation and Commercialization of Research.”

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