FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
During its scheduled meeting Tuesday, Mar. 24 and Wednesday, Mar. 25, the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors (BOV) will be discussing a recommendation by the Financial Subcommittee of a “high tuition/high aid” affordability model that would drastically increase the cost students have to pay to attend UVA.
According to the BOV, the Affordability Excellence Model recommendation addresses “loan caps and the predictability of tuition.” The specifics of the recommendation have yet to be released and few, if any, students were involved in its creation.
Students will gather outside of UVA’s Special Collections Library at 3PM on Tuesday before the Financial Subcommittee meeting to rally against the proposed model and the lack of transparency associated with it.
While discussions of the model so far have been kept under wraps, sources intimately involved in the recommendation informed UVA Students United that they may tack on an additional $1000 to the proposed 3.9% tuition increase, adding up to a total 13% increase for students.
In August 2013, the BOV made massive changes to the touted AccessUVA program, forcing low-income students into thousands of dollars in debt.
Similar iterations of this “high tuition, high aid” plan have been implemented at peer institutions, including at the University of Michigan and recently the College of William & Mary.
Critics of the model note that in the long term it decreases the percentage of low-income students while increasing the number of wealthy students.
“While this proposal purports to expand financial assistance for low-income students, it would negatively affect the communities it seeks to help,” Ibby Han of UVA Students United said.
UVA is often recognized as providing a best value education, but that distinction may soon be history.
Contact: Greg Lewis
Phone: (757) 641-5970
Email: grgorylewis@gmail.com
