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Loyalty & Respect
Ensuring access to higher education is an expensive proposition, and right now, the state of Virginia is debating who should foot the bill.
In his proposed budget, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is seeking to cap the use of tuition dollars from in-state students to provide financial aid, a practice employed by almost all colleges and universities, public and private. McDonnell has said he is pushing the cap to spur conversation about aid policies and to keep down the cost of college education, saying the current structure is placing a higher burden on middle-income students.
“A lot of middle-income students might be paying tuition increases that go toward [someone else's] need, but they may not be benefiting from that,†said Laura Fornash, Virginia’s secretary of education, a position appointed by the governor. Under the governor's budget, the state would take more responsibility for ensuring access, increasing general appropriations after several years of declines and adding more money to the state's financial aid program, which has been consistently growing even during the recession. But the budget would prohibits universities from increasing the amount of tuition revenue they use as aid above what they spent in the current fiscal year.
Most higher education administrators declined to criticize the governor, but a handful have spoken out against the plan. They noted that the measure would likely have the opposite effect from the one McDonnell intends, making college more expensive, particularly for low-income students.
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/...e-tuition-revenue-financial-aid#ixzz1liXfDszK
Inside Higher Ed
In his proposed budget, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is seeking to cap the use of tuition dollars from in-state students to provide financial aid, a practice employed by almost all colleges and universities, public and private. McDonnell has said he is pushing the cap to spur conversation about aid policies and to keep down the cost of college education, saying the current structure is placing a higher burden on middle-income students.
“A lot of middle-income students might be paying tuition increases that go toward [someone else's] need, but they may not be benefiting from that,†said Laura Fornash, Virginia’s secretary of education, a position appointed by the governor. Under the governor's budget, the state would take more responsibility for ensuring access, increasing general appropriations after several years of declines and adding more money to the state's financial aid program, which has been consistently growing even during the recession. But the budget would prohibits universities from increasing the amount of tuition revenue they use as aid above what they spent in the current fiscal year.
Most higher education administrators declined to criticize the governor, but a handful have spoken out against the plan. They noted that the measure would likely have the opposite effect from the one McDonnell intends, making college more expensive, particularly for low-income students.
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/...e-tuition-revenue-financial-aid#ixzz1liXfDszK
Inside Higher Ed