UVa Board Approves Tuition Increase

Written By James Bacon

The University of Virginia Board of Visitors approved Friday increases 3% in tuition & fees for in-state and out-of-state undergraduates for the 2024-25 and 2025-25 academic years. The precise tuition will vary, depending upon students' in-state/out-of-state residency, undergraduate/graduate status, and the school or college they are attending. (The schedule is viewable here, pages 3 through 6.)The vote was unanimous with the exception of one abstention. Bert Ellis said he had joined the Board with the understanding that "college expenses are too high." Out of respect for J.J. Davis, UVa's chief operating officer responsible for compiling the budget in an arduous process, he said, he did not vote against the increases, but he wasn't going to vote for them either. He is putting his "stake in the ground," he added, promising to carry on the fight against high costs and tuition in the future.Note: This story has been updated to reflect the percentage increases approved by the Board, which had not been made explicit at the time of the Board vote and this article was posted.The Board meeting was dominated by Davis' presentation of a slide deck illuminating UVa's value proposition and the challenges posed by inflation and the competition for talent.The only substantive discussion to take place among board members was the challenge of recruiting and retaining staff and faculty. The underlying assumption of the conversation was that UVa is resource-constrained in the competition for talent, and that tuition and the endowment are the two main levers available to UVa for staying competitive.The board action (or inaction) deserves deeper reporting, which I will provide as soon as I can.

James Bacon

After a 25-year career in Virginia journalism, James A. Bacon founded Bacon’s Rebellion in 2002 a blog with the goal of “Reinventing Virginia for the 21st Century.” Its focus is on building more prosperous, livable and sustainable communities. In recent years he has concentrated more on the spread of “woke” ideology in K-12 schools, the criminal justice system, higher education, and medicine.

In 2021, he co-founded The Jefferson Council to preserve free speech, intellectual diversity, and the Jeffersonian legacy at his alma mater the University of Virginia. He previously served as the organization’s executive director, now serving as congributing editor.

Aside from blogging, Bacon writes books. His first was Boomergeddon: How Runaway Deficits Will Bankrupt the Country and Ruin Retirement for Aging Baby Boomers — And What You Can Do About It, followed by Maverick Miner: How E. Morgan Massey Became a Coal Industry Legend and a work of science fiction, Dust Mites: the Siege of Airlock Three.

A Virginian through-and-through, Bacon lives in Richmond with his wife Laura.

https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp/
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