The University of Virginia is wrapping up another academic year, a period that included the appointment in December of a new president and the firing of the Board of Visitors leadership in January.
In her first week in office, Governor Abigail Spanberger appointed ten new members to make decisions about how UVA is run. That includes setting the rates for tuition, dining, housing, and other fees.
The new Board of Visitors split their usual spring meeting into two sessions with one on March 5 and one on April 16. The Finance Committee met at the latter to hear a proposal to increase tuition.
“We are particularly proud of the value that we provide our students and families delivering top tier education with outcomes that consistently place UVA among the top institutions in the country and globally,” said J.J. Davis, UVA’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
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Davis listed a series of statistics to prove the point such as a 96.7 percent retention rate for first year students and a 14 to 1 student faculty ratio. She said this translates into good jobs for new graduates with the class of 2023 reporting an average salary of $83,405.78, higher than the average for all Virginia public colleges and universities. Seventy-two percent of students graduate debt-free.
Davis said the net cost to students has remained steady over the past dozen years but there is a need for greater revenue to maintain the institution.
“As we look towards fiscal year 27, which starts July 1, we are planning for a more constrained and increasingly complex financial environment,” Davis said. “I think if you read anything in the paper any morning or any evening, you can underscore the complexity that higher education finance is undergoing.”
Davis has been at UVA for eight years and she said during that time there have been investments in student mental health, safety upgrades, and the creation of the new School of Data Science. During that time she said there has been an effort to try to keep tuition increases low and said there is a need for one this year based on something called the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI).
“We do propose today that we recommend to you a 3.6 percent increase which is related to HEPI,” Davis said.
There are still unknowns for UVA’s budget for next year and the Board of Visitors will take that up in June. The two chambers of the General Assembly have so far not agreed on a budget for the next fiscal year. The House proposal has a two percent increase for state employees and the Senate version has a three percent increase. At issue is whether to accelerate the end of a tax exemption that data centers can claim.
Davis also noted that UVA now has to pay the costs to maintain the former Federal Executive Institute that it received for free as part of the Trump administration’s plan to radically restructure the federal government. The place is now called Sycamore Hill as I reported last September. The space is now the headquarters for the Reserve Officers Training Corp and the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
“We also have proposed increases in the education and general mandatory fees,” Davis said. “It is a nominal $4 increase year over year.”
Housing and dining charges are also increasing. Davis said these units do not receive state funding and have to be self-sufficient. Davis said about 8,900 students purchase dining contracts and these are proposed to increase 4.8 percent or $197. About 7,600 students live on Grounds.
“We are proposing a 5 percent increase for the individual room rates,” Davis said. “That’s an average of $40 to $500 depending on the housing stock. That is in part because of the decision of the administration and the prior boards to expand undergrad student housing. So we have 760 beds currently under construction and they will be completed for fall of 2027. But we have to build in the costs associated with the anticipated debt service.”
Plans have previously been announced to redevelop the former University Gardens site on Emmet Street as additional student housing, but Davis noted that an additional 3,000 bedrooms of private student housing will also come on line in 2027. She said it is cheaper for students to live on Grounds because the room charges are for only nine months of the year.
“I think once we build the 760 undergrad beds, we’re going to need to pause for a little bit and see what do our students and how does the additional stock out in the community,” Davis said. “How does the market react to all that?”
The Finance Committee voted to approve the increases followed by the full Board of Visitors later in the day. The budget for FY2027 will be discussed at the upcoming meeting in June.
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