The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors has set tuition and fee rates for 2007-08 academic year.

Mandatory tuition and fees for Virginia undergraduates will rise $424 from $6,973 to $7,397 annually. Non-Virginia undergraduates not living on campus will pay $19,775 annually, up from $19,049.

Total cost for Virginia undergraduate students living on campus will rise from $11,739 to $12,503 annually, an increase of $764. Total annual cost for non-resident undergraduates will rise from $23,815 to $24,811, an increase of $1,066.

The university has limited the tuition/fee increase to less than 6 percent as suggested by the 2007 General Assembly tuition moderation legislation.

As in previous years, the university will increase financial aid. For these who qualify, the university’s Funds for the Future program--a landmark financial aid program that maintains the affordability of a Virginia Tech education to Virginia students from low and moderate income families—will help protect students from future tuition increases.

Graduate tuition and fees for Virginia residents will increase from $8,540 to $8,986 and for out-of-state students move from $14,057 from $15,351. Tuition and fees for Maryland and Virginia residents attending the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine will be $15,951 up from $14,738. Non-resident veterinary students will pay $35,896 annually.

The board also approved levying a supplemental fee for all courses offered by the College of Engineering beginning with new students in Fall 2007. Currently enrolled students will not be assessed.

Engineering programs are considerably more expensive that most other academic programs; the university estimates as much as $117 per credit hour. In order to maintain the traditionally outstanding quality of Virginia Tech engineering instruction, the board approved a fee of $30 per credit hour for engineering courses.

Funds generated from this supplemental fee will be earmarked for instructional program improvements. Currently, the college has a backlog of laboratory renovations and equipment needs. In addition, a portion will be used for financial aid to offset increased student need in these courses.

“This university is known worldwide for its superb engineering graduates,” said Richard Benson, dean of the College of Engineering. “It is essential that we maintain quality instructional facilities to provide them the best learning environment possible.”

Graduate engineering students will be assessed a flat fee of $270 annually beginning in 2007-08 increasing gradually to $720 annually in 2009-10. Virginia Tech’s fee for undergraduates also will be phased in gradually beginning with freshmen in 2007. Based on traditional course loads, first year engineers can expect to pay about $270 more per year rising to about $720 annually when they become juniors and seniors. (Upper division students take more courses within the college than lower division students.)

Beginning this summer, new students enrolling in the National Capital Region Master of Landscape Architecture Program will pay an annual program fee of $500 ($250 for part-time students). Funds generated from the fee will be used to offset the higher cost of delivering a high quality program off campus, the additional cost of a faculty member to enhance accreditation standing, and expansion and enhancement of the program.

Resident and non-resident students will pay the same program fee in addition to tuition. Students enrolled in the program prior to Summer 2007 will have a grandfathered exemption from the new charge.

A new program fee for the Professional Master of Business Administration (PMBA) Program will be assessed beginning this fall. In order to remain competitive with other PMBA programs offered by peer institutions, a fee will assessed to new entering students to cover the difference between regular graduate tuition and fees ($8,594 in 2007-08) and the fee of the PMBA program ($14,300)

The new Virginia Tech and Georgetown joint degree in biomedical technology development and management will allow students to matriculate at either university and pay the same tuition and fees to one institution regardless of which university is delivering the instruction.

To fully implement the joint degree arrangement with Georgetown, Virginia Tech’s total tuition and mandatory fee charge for this program will be conformed to Georgetown’s tuition and fees for its medial program. For 2006-07, this rate was $41,770 per academic year for full-time enrollment.

Since Georgetown’s tuition and fee rates are not yet known for 2007-08, the graduate program fee cannot be established at this time. The graduate program fee element of Virginia Tech’s rate will be established to equal the difference between the total tuition and mandatory fees at the Georgetown Medical School and tuition and fees at Virginia Tech.

A new Veterinary Medicine Facility Fee of $450 will be charged to all new and returning veterinary students to expedite the construction of additional instructional space needed by the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.

While the total cost of a Virginia Tech education is rising, it remains an excellent value. For undergraduates, the university currently has the lowest overall cost to attend of any Virginia four-year public institution. The university currently ranks 20 of 23 against its national peer universities for in-state total costs and is expected remain about the same.

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