The UVA Board of Visitors voted on Friday to approve tuition increases for special programs and a $3,000 tuition differential for third-year students at the McIntire School of Commerce for increased costs and technology. The new change will be carried out on an experimental basis.
UVA President Teresa Sullivan told members of the board that her major concern amidst rising education costs is the preservation of the quality program. Sullivan referenced the inadequate level of resources for students in the School of Commerce and the need to hire more faculty and pay them better wages.
In the same motion, the board approved a 3.5 percent tuition increase for the MBA for Executives program ($119,500, up from $115,500); a 4.3 percent increase for a M.S. in Systems Engineering ($36,500, up from $35,000); a 5.5 percent increase for Virginians enrolled in the Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Med Certificate ($25,000, up from $23,700); and 4.5 percent for non-Virginians ($30,000, up from $25,000).
The board also considered and approved a new enrollment growth plan that will allow UVA to increase enrollment by 1,500—1,400 undergraduate and 100 graduate students—by 2018-2019.
According to the approved plan, undergraduate enrollment will increase to 15,688 from 14,015. The new growth will still maintain the current 70/30 ratio between in-state and out-of-state students. Yet according to the approved motion, growth will only happen with corresponding state support.
With budget talks still underway at the state level, the board was presented with the planning steps for the next academic budget. In addition to the estimated $4.6 million increase of AccessUVA and the $1.5 million in deferred maintenance, Colette Sheehy, vice president for Management and Budget, told the board that the University will face unavoidable costs that include replacing the budget funding gap and the state-approved salary increase for faculty and staff. And although the endowment is back at $4.9 billion, since 2007 UVA has sustained $51.1 million in budget reductions.
In buildings news, Hunter Smith—wife of the late Carl W. Smith and financial supporter of the UVA Marching Band—will be honored with the new Hunter Smith Band Building, more than two years after she donated $10.7 million for the construction of a rehearsal hall. The Hunter Smith Band Building is slated for an August completion date.
