Cavalier Kabuki
Once again the University of Virginia Board of Visitors is conducting the ritual of pretending to be involved in setting rates for tuition, fees, room and board, this time for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The board’s Finance Committee met earlier this month for an hour and forty-five minutes to hear presentations by UVA staff. Other than an introduction by Finance Chair Robert M. Blue, the minutes record no comments or questions by any board member.
Blue framed the purpose of the meeting as, in the phrasing of the minutes, “educating and orienting committee members to some key issues that align with actions on the agenda in December.”
He then turned over the meeting to Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis to provide “some useful historical context to set the stage for upcoming actions, and to help committee members make decisions from an informed perspective.”
Gaining an “informed perspective” did not extend to allowing committee members to ask substantive questions about UVA’s cost structure or high-tuition/high-aid financial model. Several board members appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin have pushed for cuts to the university’s administrative staff but have been unable to open up the issue in the finance committee, much less in the full board. Finance Chair Blue and Rector Robert Hardie (who functions as chair of the full board) are both holdovers from the Northam administration. With President Jim Ryan, they control the agenda. Divisions among Youngkin appointees and don’t-rock-the-boat guidance from the Governor’s Office have stymied any action by reformers.
According to the minutes:
Davis reviewed metrics on the value proposition that UVA offers, including affordability and accessibility, academic excellence and career preparedness, and community engagement and societal impact. She said significant effort is made to manage operational costs without compromising quality including strategic investing to offset costs, renegotiating contracts, and increasing operational efficiencies. Through partnerships and philanthropic support, the University has been able to minimize the need for cost increases that impact students.
By comparison to other public universities, UVA is widely acknowledged to be a “bargain” — offering educational value for the dollar — for in-state undergraduate students. However, it is manifestly not a good deal for out-of-state students, who pay Ivy League-level tuition and fees. Moreover, as The Jefferson Council has documented in detail, UVA’s high-tuition, high-aid financial model punishes middle-class families.
As the months-long budget-setting process grinds forward, the administration will present its recommendations to the full Board in December for approval. By then, the elaborate budget dance will have reached its predestined conclusion.
James A. Bacon is the founder of Bacon’s Rebellion and a contributing editor with The Jefferson Council.
