Board of Visitors sets tuition and fees for 2005-06

The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors has set tuition and fee rates for 2005-06 academic year.

Total cost for Virginia students living on campus will rise from $10,062 to $10,834 annually, an increase of $772. Total annual cost for non-resident students will rise from $20,805 to $22,293, an increase of $1,448.

"As most people know by now, Virginia higher education has faced a funding shortage for a long time. We raise fees reluctantly, but do so in order to maintain the high quality level that our students expect. The infusion of new monies will enable us to increase faculty positions, rebuild budgets, and continue to address the major loss of funding that occurred earlier this decade," said President Charles Steger.

The university lost $72 million from state appropriations in 2002-03, or about 26 percent of base funding.

The state of Virginia calculated that Virginia Tech was under funded by about $40 million annually at the beginning of FY 03-04. By using a combination of tuition and fee increases and modest increases in state aid, the university plans to achieve 'full funding' by the end of the decade.

Tuition and mandatory fees for an in-state undergraduate student not living on campus will rise from $5,838 to $6,378 annually. Non-Virginians undergrads not living on campus will pay $17,837 annually up from $16,581.

Graduate tuition and fees for Virginia residents move from $7,512 to $7,977 and for out-of-state students move to $12, 835 from $11,682. Tuition and fees for Maryland and Virginia residents attending the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine will be $13,769 up from $12,867. Non-resident veterinary students will pay $30,969 annually.

The university will again increase financial aid. As much as $2 million additional aid will be made available to those with financial need. Last year, the university increased aid by almost $3.4 million. The total financial aid budget is about $195 million.

Virginia Tech expects to remain financially competitive on many fronts. It currently has the lowest overall cost to attend of any Virginia four-year public institution and is expected to remain so. The university currently ranks among the lowest of it national peer universities for in-state costs (currently 22 of 23) and is expected remain about the same. Tech currently ranks 17 among it 23 peers in total undergraduate costs for out-of-state students and is expected to remain about the same.