The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia will urge the General Assembly to appropriate an additional $58.7 million in student financial aid over the next two years to offset the decrease in state support that has resulted in higher tuition.
SCHEV today adopted a resolution that set student aid as its top priority for the 2010-12 budget biennium.
The council is seeking an increase in student financial aid for in-state undergraduates of $19.9 million for fiscal 2011 and $38.8 million for 2012.
The 2009 General Assembly increased financial aid by $10 million, bringing funding to about $128 million a year. SCHEV was told that nearly 66 percent of that aid for 2007-08 went to families with incomes of less than $50,000 that have students at four-year public schools.
For two-year colleges, nearly 85 percent the aid went to of those families. SCHEV also is recommending $17.7 million in additional aid for graduate students for the biennium, as well as $16.5 million more to maintain a grant program for Virginia residents attending the state's private universities.
Funding for that program, known as the Tuition Assistance Grant, would allow a maximum award of $3,200 to undergraduates and $1,900 to graduate students at nonprofit schools.
In making its recommendations, the council pointed to the dismal state of financing for higher education in Virginia. Nationally, the state ranks 40th in state and local appropriations per student. In a regional seven-state ranking from New York to North Carolina, Virginia ranks last.
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