The Board of Trustees met earlier this year and reached the conclusion that the school should not raise tuition for the 2018-2019 school year. For the last 20 years, the school has been raising its tuition on a yearly basis.
According to the press release sent on March 15, “We recognize that higher education is a substantial investment for students and their families,” President Scott Miller said. Miller also said, “At their winter meeting last month, our Trustees reaffirmed the importance of affordability and access to quality higher education. It is essential for us to work with our students and their families to make that possible.” It’s great that the school is finally realizing this because continually raising tuition is a financial burden on families.
Senior Lydia O’Conner is happy that the school is finally freezing tuition, but not happy that it took them this long to take the initiative. “I think it’s frustrating because it (tuition) has risen almost every school year… As a senior, it makes me wish that they did it before,” O’Connor said. O’Connor also wishes the school would offer a grandfather clause where students would be locked in to the same tuition rate they paid their freshman year. “When I was a freshman, it was a few thousand less than it is now and it would have been nice if they had a grandfather clause. Then, it would stay the same for the four years,” O’Connor said.
“Affordability will continue to be in the forefront of our planning at Virginia Wesleyan … A tuition freeze for 2018-19 is just one of many actions we are employing to help our students and their families benefit from the lifelong value of a world-class education,” Miller said. It’s good that President Miller is thinking about the future, rather than just right now. Yes, some students may not agree with how he is handling things, but in the end the outcome is more important than what people think.
I am personally happy that the school has finally made the decision not to raise tuition. A lot of times I have been annoyed that this school is already expensive and tuition still continues to rise. I know people who decided to transfer because the school was too expensive for them. At the same time, I am annoyed that the school is finally taking this action the year after I leave. I would have loved it if the school did this when I was here. I personally hope that the school stops raising tuition altogether. When students are freshmen they expect that the cost will stay the same, no one thinks that the cost will rise from there. I love this school so much and am very grateful for how much I have learned academically and personally since I’ve been here, but the school needs to stop raising the tuition every year and I hope that happens in the next few years so more people can benefit like I have.
Farah Haidari
fahaidari@vwu.edu
