Virginia college tuition up for 4th straight year
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The average cost of in-state tuition and fees at Virginia's public colleges and universities is going up by more than 2% for the fourth year in a row.
- That's according to a report from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
Why it matters: Virginia already had a higher average tuition than most of the U.S., per the report and an independent one last year by the College Board, the nonprofit that does the SATs and AP tests.
State of play: Inflation and a General Assembly-approved 3% raise for state employees that went into effect in June are what drove the 2.1% tuition hike for the 2025-26 school year.
- It comes on top of last year's 2.6% increase, the 3.5% hike for '23-'24 and the 2.6% increase the year before that.
By the numbers: That brings the average cost for an in-state undergrad at one of Virginia's 15 public universities this year to $14,846.
- With room and board, it's $29,538.
- Four years ago: $13,180 for tuition and fees, and $25,587 with room and board.
Zoom in: The 2.1% increase is an average.
- George Mason, VMI and UVA at Wise didn't raise tuition this year.
- UVA, VCU, William & Mary and VSU hiked it by 3%.
- ODU raised it by 3.1% and Virginia Tech by 2.9%.
Zoom out: A couple of things beyond employee pay raises and inflation have pushed up costs, SCHEV notes in its report.
- Mandatory fees that cover things like athletics, student health and transportation have been rising steadily. This year, they're up an average of 3.9%.
- And schools are still playing catch-up from state budget cuts during recessions in the '90s, 2000s and 2008–12.
The intrigue: The biggest driver of Virginians' bigger college bills, per SCHEV, is that the state isn't paying full freight.
- Virginia should be paying 70% of in-state students' education costs under a 1976 cost-sharing policy the General Assembly passed. What it is in fact paying for this school year is 58%.
- The reason: Lawmakers have tweaked these ratios over the decades to allow the state to pay less, largely due to recessions and state budget shortfalls.
- At its worst, in the 2018-19 school year, the state picked up just 45% of the tab. So 58% is an improvement.
Stunning stat: Had the state kept to the original terms of the cost-sharing agreement for the last 49 years, SCHEV estimates that tuition this year would cost Virginians 21% less.