VCU Sets 2011-12 Tuition and Fees

Six-year strategic plan approved

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The Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors today set tuition and mandatory fees for the 2011-2012 academic year and adopted a six-year strategic plan.

Undergraduate, in-state students will pay $9,517 in tuition and mandatory fees for the upcoming academic year. That represents a $700 or 7.9 percent increase over current tuition and mandatory fees. Out-of-state undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees was set at $22,949, a $1,000 increase.

The university’s increase is in the range of tuition and mandatory fee levels established by the state’s other four-year institutions. VCU’s tuition and mandatory fees remain slightly below the state’s average and significantly below the other major research universities.

“In the current economic climate, public universities must work diligently to ensure financial access for qualified students combined with a conscientious commitment to academic quality and the assurance that students are able to succeed in the long term,” said VCU President Michael Rao. “VCU continues to transform the lives of its students and we need to be sure that we are doing so as effectively and efficiently as possible.”

The rates reflect the impact of ongoing reductions in state support for VCU’s in-state students. As of July 1, VCU will receive $41 million less in federal and state funding than it did the year before. Between fiscal years 2008 and 2012, state support for Virginia students at VCU will have been reduced by $63.5 million – about 31 percent -- the largest reduction among four-year institutions in Virginia.

“VCU remains proud that it educates the largest number of in-state students of any of the state’s four-year universities, but in doing so, it consequently suffers the largest state cut in state appropriations,” Rao said. “State support per in-state VCU student in fiscal year 2012 stands at 58 percent of what it was in fiscal year 2001.”

Rao called the budget austere and said it continues to manage the decline in state funding and “is sensitive to the financial concerns of our students and their families.” He said the budget accommodates modest but strategic investments in faculty, student scholarships and libraries by reallocating university resources and taking advantage of savings realized primarily through the active management of energy costs.

The VCU Board of Visitors also approved VCU Quest for Distinction, a new six-year strategic plan that establishes a roadmap to reach VCU’s vision as the nation’s premier public urban research university distinguished by commitments to academic quality and student success.

“The Quest plan captures the best of our opportunities in a way that is realistic,” Rao said. “It is a responsible plan that will measure our progress in meeting our goals and objectives over the next six years.”