I don’t know about most of you readers out there, but my tuition went up just within the last year. I suspect that many of you are familiar with that situation as well, since the university increased tuition and fee costs by 10.8 percent according to the Roanoke Times.
What you may not know is that there is a chance some of that extra money we have to pay as a part of our cost in attending Virginia Tech will not go toward our education, but to the state. That’s right, some of our hard-earned money could potentially be used to balance the state budget.
The Tech Board of Visitors Executive Committee will already be deciding this week to increase tuition and fees by 5 percent, for those of us who are in-state. Out-of-state students and graduate students can expect an increase of 5.1 percent. If you are an out-of-state graduate student, you would be looking at the toughest increase, 6.3 percent.
So? Since Tech’s tuition and fee costs are fifth most expensive in the state, what’s the big deal about a 5 percent increase? Refer back to earlier when I said that some of that money will go to the state.
Think about it for a second. If it were not for recent stimulus funding, Tech would have raised our tuition even more than the increases I have already listed. The state lowers its financial support to our university, while it also plans to take away a portion of those heightened fees from our education. This is all part of former Gov. Tim Kaine’s final budget bill, which frankly has not gotten as much attention as it should have.
Sure, we hear about how bad the economy is doing, but where is the line between asking students to pay our dues to a wonderful public university and stealing from us? Instead of our increased fees going toward things we need, such as renovation, improving our health and counseling centers, and supporting our education to the fullest, this suggestion to take our fees to help the state budget is contemptible. An estimated $18.8 million could be taken from Virginia universities in just the first year of this proposal. This proposal won’t just affect us, but public universities across the state. Tech, I ask you: Is this fair?
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 25 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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The reserve fund fees are no longer being considered by the state. Every SGA in VA lobbied hard against it and we won. HOWEVER, the state is looking at a "surtax" that would tax only college students...either way though, you are right...the state is going to "steal" from college students, because they don't want to call it a "tax"
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Not calling names, but is it the fact in America that Democrats tax and Republicans add fees? I'd rather be told I'm getting taxed to my face than discover I have to pay a sneaky, secretive fee.
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If we take the author at her word, this is a Tim Kaine directive. Tim Kaine is a Democrat.
On a more constructive note, if we assume no more spending can be cut, an alternative is to raise taxes, in which case, you/your parents would still be hit with more expenses. Of course, it would be spread more uniformly amongst VA residents, rather than extracting money solely from college students.
At the end of the day, though, let's not sensationalize the issue. Is it underhanded? Maybe, but remember that the state has also given its institutions money, and that, in a similar sense, could be seen as a similar misappropriation of revenue from taxpayers who never attend a university in VA.
At the end of the day, VT and other public state universities are still highly regarded in terms of education value. In particular, UVa is #1 and VT is #8 among public universities in overall value according to the Princeton Review, with JMU, W&M, and Mary Washington also making the list.
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By saying that supporting universities could be seen as a misappropriation of revenue, you are in danger of perpetuating the same rhetoric that got us to this place.
Higher education is now funded at levels that are lower in terms of real dollars than it was in the 1980s. Why? Because somewhere along the way people have decided that universities are only a benefit to students (an individual good) and are, therefore, not a public benefit. This denies all the economic and societal benefits provided by universities. So, in affect, the funds aren't be misappropriated but rather underappropriated given everything the universities provide.
Furthermore, if the current trends continue, however, Virginia universities may no longer be seen as such a great value, which would be a huge loss to this state's economy because of the compound affects that ic would likely have, not the least of which because of decreased ability to attract and retain businesses.
The State Higher Education Executive Officers
The question we need to be asking is: why is it fair to collect money from college student fees which are collected from/for services provided to students and have nothing to do with the state otherwise? The fees are collected, in the main, for auxiliaries which must run like businesses by law. So, essentially dorms, dining systems, books, etc. would be taxed by taking this money.
Now, you tell me how that's a fair way to balance a budget?
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(1 of 2)I don't disagree that funding higher education is a noble thing, but my question was more about where the money is going to come from to pay for higher levels of education funding. It has to come from taxation or cutting other government expenditures. So, as I said, assuming no other cuts can be made, additional tax revenue must be generated. Where is it going to come from?
Virginia has already increased its tobacco tax rates and its alcohol taxation rate ranks in the higher half of all states, higher income taxes wouldn't be taken well, and higher corporate taxes would defeat your goal of having companies attracted to an area because of its educated citizenry.
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(2 of 2)Let's be realistic: many people go to college to improve their earning power. Having well-educated citizens is not just good for the state; it is good for the citizens themselves. According to the 2009 Census statistical abstract, about 1/3 of Virginians have a baccalaureate degree or higher (that's 6th best in the nation). We're hardly in dire circumstances.
In order to have a balanced budget, assets have to equal expenditures. If the state chose to do away with the education tax, they would simply cut funding to education even further, and then instead of taxes, universities would be forced to raise tuition even more instead. The money coming from the state to universities is greater than the money collected from this tax, so at the end of the day, the state is still paying out quite a bit to provide for its universities.
The article makes it seem as though all they're doing is taking money from college students, but the truth is that they've already given much more.
Circumstances may not be ideal from the perspective of those seeking an education, but that is just one factor considered in balancing a laundry list of issues when constructing a budget.
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