William & Mary’s Board of Visitors is hosting a public hearing on Tuesday to discuss various aspects of the budget, including the incoming in-state undergraduate students entering in Fall 2020.
The meeting comes nearly a year after the college’s Board of Visitors approved a resolution to maintain its four-year tuition guarantee for in-state undergraduate students in November 2018. The resolution had continued the “William & Mary Promise” as the operating model for the college.
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Following the resolution, the FY 2020 should see no increase in tuition for undergraduate students. During the November meeting, the Board also approved FY 2020 tuition as $18,375 for incoming in-state students.
That rate was also guaranteed not to increase for four years.
However, after the November meeting, the 2019 Virginia Assembly amended the 2018-20 Appropriations Act to include funds to moderate FY 2020 in-state undergraduate tuition with $1.45 million in state funding to William & Mary so long as tuition and mandatory Educational and General fee charges for in-state undergraduate students were maintained at FY 2019 levels.
In September, the Board unanimously approved the college’s six-year plan, according to a news release from the W&M. The plan includes a modified tuition model that will go into effect with the entering, in-state class of fall 2020.
That plan is designed to reduce the rate of growth in tuition, maintain predictability and simplify the planning process for in-state families.
The Board on Tuesday will consider tuition increases for incoming in-state freshmen and undergraduate transfer students ranging from 0 to 3 percent. This is consistent with the recently approved six-year plan.
Once a decision is made, the incoming in-state class will be guaranteed the tuition will not exceed a 3 percent growth annually.
Funds generated from the increase will be used in combination with other revenues to address personnel costs, including the university’s share of any state-mandated increase in salaries, fringe and health benefit changes, need-based financial aid, and institutional initiatives, according to the release.
Those uses will be determined by budget actions taken by the governor and General Assembly during the 2020 session.
The Board will consider tuition for out-of-state undergraduates, graduate and professional students during a separate meeting on April 24, 2020. There will be a public session prior to the meeting.
Tuesday’s meeting will be from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Chesapeake B of the Sadler Center. The meeting will feature a presentation from administration and provide time for public comments.
For those who cannot attend the meeting but still wish to comment, members can submit them on an online forum before the hearing.
