McDonnell punishes VCU for tuition increase

Gov. Bob McDonnell said Friday that he has withheld state money equal to half of Virginia Commonwealth University's 24 percent tuition increase as a message to colleges and universities about rising tuition rates.

Noting that tuitions for Virginia students have doubled in the past 10 years, McDonnell said, "That is unacceptable." McDonnell on Friday proposed a number of budget amendments in remarks to the General Assembly's money committees. The room was lined with lobbyists.

VCU raised tuition and fees by $1,700 for in-state undergraduates — the largest increase in the state. VCU expected the increase to generate $33.4 million. McDonnell is proposing to withhold $17 million.

In a statement, VCU President Michael Rao said the proposed action "directly affects VCU's ability to continue providing a quality education and ensure that students graduate on time."

He said tuition at VCU is still below the state average and said the tuition increase was approved by the board at a time when VCU was losing federal stimulus funding and state financial support.

He said that VCU does not rely on out-of-state students who pay higher tuition, and that VCU has cut costs so much in recent years that the quality of instruction has been undermined.

"I absolutely support the governor's objectives," Rao said later in an interview.

He said that he and McDonnell have a good working relationship that "will enable us to talk through this."

Rao said in the interview that he could not speculate why VCU was singled out as an example by the governor.

Other schools also saw steep tuition increases, although the percentage rise was not as dramatic. The College of William and Mary, for example, raised its rates by nearly 13 percent, which translated to an additional $1,388 for students.

"What I have done is only appropriate half of the tuition increase money and have reserved the rest of the money and depending on what happens with the board of visitors' decision on tuition increases this year, perhaps we can release the rest of the money next year," McDonnell said.

"This will certainly be a good message to our higher education institutions that they need to govern their tuition rates accordingly," he told reporters after his address. He said he does not want to see students saddled with "a decade of debt when they get out."

He discussed his proposal Thursday with Rao.

McDonnell's proposal did not sit well with state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, the Senate Democratic Caucus chairwoman.

"He's going to punish VCU for having increased general fund tuition more than he thinks they should have and take general fund revenue away from one of our most important universities? I think that's shocking," she said.

Because of a recovering economy, McDonnell proposed increasing general fund revenues over 2010-12 by $283 million. He described the upward projections as "conservative." The two money committees have made more optimistic forecasts.

McDonnell also proposed cuts and savings in state government totaling $191.6 million. He achieved the savings, in part, by proposing to sell two state police helicopters and by not filling vacant positions.

The amendment proposals are to the 2010-12 budget adopted by the General Assembly in April.

McDonnell's fellow Republicans had praise for the proposals, while the Democrats were more guarded.

"The governor's got a very aggressive agenda," said Sen. R. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania "There's a significant amount of new spending, new priorities that will require a great deal of scrutiny by the time the legislature finishes working through this budget," he added.

In his lengthy address, the governor devoted only 11 words to one of his top priorities: privatizing the state's government-run liquor stores.

"Richmond does not need a monopoly over selling bourbon and vodka," he said.

The governor previously discussed many of the budget proposals, including making state employees contribute to the Virginia Retirement System and issuing $4 billion in bonds to help finance transportation.

Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he has a lot of state employees in his district, so the retirement proposal hurts, "but something has to be done."

McDonnell asked the legislature for $58 million to cover costs for the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, which, he said, has lost $56 million over the past four years because of poor billing practices.

Making a special plea for transportation bonds, McDonnell said "transportation funding is a bipartisan failure." He has said he will not seek a gas-tax increase to pay for new roads and mass transit.

But Sen. Charles J. Colgan, D-Prince William, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he would not agree with more debt. "I would increase the tax on gasoline by 20 cents a gallon and generate about a billion dollars and go with that," he said.

"There is not going to be a gas tax (increase) in 2011 and that's just a political, pragmatic statement," said state Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, the Senate Republican leader.

twhitley@timesdispatch.com

(804) 649-6780

Staff writers Olympia Meola, Jim Nolan and Karin Kapsidelis contributed to this report.