Collegiate Times

Students, faculty and programs across campus could face difficult financial times with state budget cuts hitting Virginia Tech.

Officials pointed to an exceedingly tight state budget as the reason for the university's funding crunch. There is a $72 million gap between the school's current appropriation and the state's calculated funding needs for the school. A combination of state funds, tuition and other revenues amounts to $442 million, while the school needs a total of $514.6 million to operate according to the budget.

"We were already underfunded based on the state's own guidelines, before our budget reduction last fall we were underfunded by $60 million, and what that's saying is that you need that much more money in order to be funded at the appropriate level," university spokesman Larry Hincker said. "We had a double whammy. Not only were we underfunded to begin with, but then that portion they were funding us, they took away from us $10.1 million."

This money shortfall could lead to damage across the university.

"It's not things that are being cut, because it's things you don't have it to begin with," Hincker said. "It just means you aren't able to pay faculty the salaries they're supposed to be paid, you don't have the faculty you're supposed to have, your operational funding is not where it needs to be."

Hincker likened the situation to pressing down on a water balloon.

"If you squeeze one end something's going to happen on the other end," Hincker said. "So the state's been squeezing us and so it's been bulging over at this end, and the student and the students' families are picking up an increased cost of the share to educate."

Tech's operating budget has increased $55 millionover the past year because of a growing student body and costs incurred because of other campus growth. The university has decided to pass the bill on to students.

"The university was faced with the decision of saying, 'Either we're going to shut down programs or we're going to raise tuition,' and that's why tuition has escalated considerably over the past 7 or 8 years," Hincker said.

Since 2003 tuition has increased 96 percent. The bursar's Web site states 2003-04 tuition amounted to $2,095 for in-state, full-time students. The same Web site states the 2008-09 tuition will cost in-state, full-time Tech students  $4,099.

If tuition increased another 96 percent in the next six years, the 2013-14 tuition for an in-state student taking 12 credits will cost $8,034.04. Out-of-state tuition for the 2008-09 year is $10,412.50.
Even with the tuition increase, university officials said they haven't seen a major impact to students paying their tuition bill.

"Some students continue to have problems year after year," said Evelyn Ratcliffe, university bursar. "I haven't as yet, (even) with the economy seeming to not be in the best of shape; we have not seen it impacting our students."

In a memo to the university community, President Charles Steger stressed the need for departments to look for ways to cut costs in order to avoid shortfalls from the lack of state funding. Steger said the budget came in a billion dollars short.

"Before the governor can reduce state agency budgets, a revised revenue estimate is required," Steger wrote in the Aug. 21 memo. "I have asked deans and vice presidents to begin contingency planning. It is far too early to specify reduction options, but we will look at virtually every aspect of the university, while we will endeavor to protect the core university functions."

Tech and other universities statewide are not the only ones harmed by the state's budget crunch.
On Tuesday Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine sent a memo to state agency heads asking for contingency plans to be made to make cuts to their budgets for as much as 15 percent. However, higher education officials around the state were not among the recipients of the memo.