This summer, already two major financial changes have occurred for students at Longwood University, as well as for students around the United States, for the 2013-2014 academic school year.
On July 1, the interest rates for subsidized government loans doubled to 6.8 percent, up from 3.4 percent, as reported by CNN. CNBC further reported that not all federal student loans will be impacted, only new, subsidized Stafford loans.
“The doubling of the interest rate may sound dramatic, but it does not double the loan payments. Most of the loan payment goes to pay down the principal balance of the loan. On a 10-year repayment term, the monthly payment will increase by only about one-sixth,” reported CNBC.
An estimate of more than 7 million students will take out subsidized loans for the upcoming 2013-2014 school year, as reported by The Washington Post.
The Washington Post further reported that “it is unclear whether Congress will allow the increase to stand before the new school year gets under way.”
More locally, Longwood University sent out a press release on May 11 stating that there will be a 4.1 percent increase in tuition and mandatory fees for the 2013-2014 academic school year. This increase brings the cost for in-state students to $11,340. For out-of-state students, there is a 4.5 percent increase to $33,086.
“Room and board will increase 5 percent to $8,876, bringing the total cost for a Virginia resident living on campus to $20,216 ... The overall increase for tuition, fees, room and board is $878 or 4.5 percent,” reported the Longwood University press release.
Ken Copeland, vice president for Administration and Finance, stated that there were a variety of factors that led to the increase in tuition. The 18 percent increase in the cost of healthcare and the cost to fund auxiliary employees were two factors that Copeland said made an impact. Auxiliary employees are not funded by tuition and state dollars.
Copeland added that there are various fixed cost increases that also made an impact in the rise of tuition.
Copeland further stated, “They don’t vary with the number of students or the number of employees that are using them.”
These increases include the cost to run the university’s computer network, the maintenance contracts for upgrades for university servers and software, and more.
“It’s things that we don’t have a whole lot of control over that are ... being mandated by the Commonwealth,” he said, further adding, “I’m not saying that they shouldn’t be because it’s been a long time since the Commonwealth gave any state employees pay increases – but there is a portion of those pay increases and the requisite healthcare benefits that we have to afford to our employees that we didn’t have any choice about.”
With the fixed cost increases and the cost of healthcare, Copeland stated that about 3.5 percent of the 4.1 percent increase is due to these two factors.
He added, “We’re doing everything we can to drive costs down in certain areas, to be more efficient in the way we use technology, with the way we use electricity, continuing to heat the campus with sawdust as opposed to fuel oil, things of that nature, but things are just getting more ... expensive.”
Marianne Radcliff, rector of Board of Visitors, added that one factor that affects Longwood is that only 4.6 percent of the student population is out-of-state.
“We don’t have that differential that ... a lot of other universities can benefit from where they can charge a lot more to out of state students,” Radcliff said.
In terms of whether or not there may be an increase in tuition for the 2014-2015 academic school year, Copeland said, “I’d love to say no.”
He further stated, “I’ve got no clue what impact might ultimately be born by higher ed[ucation] in general, nationwide as well as state-wide with some of the changes pertinent to what is being referred to as ObamaCare. There is still a lot of uncertainty coming from Washington [D.C.] that is being born not only by higher ed[ucation] but by employers, whether they’re public or private.”
Radcliff added that she was unsure as well. “My hope is that we will really be able to take a holistic look at tuition and how it is determined.”
Copeland stated that some measures that may lower costs included increasing the student population, increasing the retention rates and lowering the six year graduation rate.
Radcliff added that there will be a high effort to heighten the percentage of money received from the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as from contributions.
“Hopefully, we will be able to keep it as low as possible,” Radcliff said.
During the 2013-2014 academic school year, there was a 3.4 percent increase in tuition. There was a 3.4 percent increase in tuition for the 2012-2013 academic school year, as well, while the increase for the 2011-2012 academic school year was by 3.7 percent, as reported by Longwood University press releases.
With this year’s tuition increase, there is also a statewide 2 to 3 percent raise that will go into higher education and faculty and staff raises. Copeland stated that he hopes for there to be another increase in faculty and staff salaries for the following fiscal year.
As Longwood University undergoes various construction projects, such as the constructions of the University Center and French Hall, Copeland discussed how these construction projects may affect the tuition rates of the school.
The construction of French Hall is not funded by university tuition and fees. French Hall is designated as an Education and General, or E & G building, which allows it to be funded as a state project with funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The University Center is not designated as an E & G building, but rather as an auxiliary building. As an auxiliary building, the University Center is paid for by student comprehensive fees and donations. Copeland’s estimate for the total project is $30 million, half by student fees and half by private money.
He noted, “It’s not like we would raise $15 million on the backs of the students that are now here. We would basically borrow that money over 15 or 20 years.”
In concern of tuition and any potential increase for the following academic year, Copeland said, “We will try to work with the administration to really get an idea of where our needs are going to be coming forward. So, affordability is always the biggest issue. It’s on everybody’s mind. Every board member is concerned about it. So, it’s always as low as we can possibly get away with.”
