West Virginia University’s Board of Governors has delayed action on a likely tuition increase while the state budget remains unresolved.
WVU says a board meeting Friday that was called to set tuition and fees lasted only a few minutes.
David Alvarez, the board’s Finance and Facilities and Revitalization Committee chairman, said it’s a very difficult position without a state budget to finalize work for next year.
WVU President Gordon Gee tells The Dominion Post it’s fair to say there will be a tuition increase, but it’s unclear at what level, due to state budget uncertainty.
The state Legislature remains in negotiations over the budget, and is in recess and scheduled to return June 5.
The next WVU board meeting is June 16. The fiscal year starts July 1.
West Virginia University at Parkersburg will offer in-state tuition rates to all students in three online programs.
The Dominion Post reports that the programs include the Bachelor of Applied Science in Child Development, Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Applied Science in Supervisory Management.
The Board of Governors in April voted to let students from any state enroll in the three programs at the in-state rate, starting with the 2017-2018 school year.
The in-state rate for the three programs will help reduce tuition costs for out-of-state students by almost 40 percent.
The average cost of tuition at West Virginia’s public universities and colleges has doubled in the past 15 years, according to a new report.
The West Virginia Center on Budget Policy released a report Monday showing average tuition has increased by about $4,200 a year at the state’s four-year colleges and universities since 2002, media outlets said.
That’s a roughly 147 percent increase, which outpaced the rate of inflation during that same period.
According to the report, continued decreases in state funding to schools have caused tuition to rise rapidly, thus making college less affordable than it used to be.
“I think this is important to be aware of in a state like West Virginia, which has the lowest level of college-educated adults in its workforce, higher education is one of the areas we should be investing in, not cutting,” said Sean O’Leary, a senior policy analyst at the nonprofit police research organization.
Right now, state lawmakers are debating how much higher education should be cut in next year’s budget. Among the proposals from the Republican-majority leadership have been $150 million in cuts to higher education, the state’s public K-12 system and the Department of Health and Human Resources.
Had the cost of tuition kept pace with the rate of inflation, O’Leary said tuition would have increased only 33 percent from 2002 to 2016.
“To make college more affordable and accessible, the state will have to restore adequate funding to public higher education institutions in the state and explore other ways to reduce the costs of higher education,” the report said.
The West Virginia University College of Law plans to offer in-state tuition rates to students from other states who have graduated from a West Virginia college.
WVU said in a news release Thursday that the Loyalty Tuition Program could save each qualified student more than $16,000 a year. The offer would begin with the fall 2017 semester.
About 23 percent of students in this year’s entering class are from out of state.
To qualify, students must have earned a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in West Virginia.
Marshall University in Huntington has approved a $119 million budget that will increase tuition by 5 percent.
The university’s board members approved the budget Wednesday.
Tuition will be increased across the board for in-state, out-of-state and metro students. Overall, the tuition increase equates to an increase of $170 per semester for in-state students, an extra $390 per semester for out-of-state students and an additional $299 for metro students.
Marshall University President Jerome Gilbert says the university’s tuition remains an affordable option.
The budget will also include $45.9 million in allocations from the state of West Virginia, about $55.8 million from tuition and fees and a $3.1 million dip into the university’s reserve funds.
University of Charleston President Ed Welch says a tuition increase will be offset by more financial aid.
Undergraduate tuition at the private university will increase by $3,000 to $28,900 a year.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Welch told students at a Wednesday meeting that the university will increase financial aid by $2,000.
Welch said graduate, online students and those enrolled at the university’s campuses in Beckley and Martinsburg won’t be affected by the tuition increase.
He also said fees for room and board won’t change.
The university’s Board of Trustees approved the increase in October. Welch said the move was prompted by several programs and additions, along with new federal regulations for employee compensation.
