State Board for Community Colleges to Consider 2020-21 Fees at May Meeting

In accordance with Section 23.1-307 (D) of the Code of Virginia, the State Board for Community Colleges provides notice that it will consider tuition and mandatory fee increases for Virginia’s Community Colleges, effective fall 2020, at 9 a.m. on May 21, 2020, via a virtual meeting. The address for that meeting will be posted on the Commonwealth Calendar no later than 5pm on May 13, 2020.

The State Board will consider mandatory fee increases of between 0 percent and 2.2 percent for all undergraduate students, subject to provisions of the 2020 session of the General Assembly. The community colleges will use revenue generated from any increases in mandatory fees to pay for contractual obligations, debt service, and proposed adjustments to student fees.

Public comment will be received at the meeting following approval of minutes of the preceding meeting and prior to committee reports. The public comment session will be available by via a virtual meeting, the location of which will be posted to the Commonwealth Calendar.

Individuals who wish to speak to the Board must notify, or provide written comment, to the Office of the Chancellor at least 5 working days prior to the scheduled meeting by emailing rmowen@vccs.edu.

All remarks before the State Board for Community Colleges must be matters germane and relevant to the agenda of the day.

TCC to freeze tuition and mandatory fees

Thanks to a unanimous decision by the State Board for Community Colleges to maintain current in-state tuition and mandatory fees for the 2019-2020 academic year, Tidewater Community College joins institutions across Virginia in announcing a tuition and fee freeze for the upcoming academic year.

The State Board’s decision means TCC’s in-state tuition and mandatory fees will remain at $185.35 per credit hour. Community college tuition and mandatory fees are approximately one-third of the comparable costs of attending Virginia’s public four-year universities.

“I know the decision by the State Board to freeze tuition and fees is welcome news for TCC students and their families,” said Corey McCray, interim executive vice president for Academic and Student Affairs. “Making the choice to attend community college continues to make financial sense, whether you’re seeking to complete your general education requirements to transfer to a four-year institution or training for a career to enter the workforce.”

Education debt is more than $1.4 trillion nationally – which surpasses outstanding credit card doubt, according to the lobbying group Partners for College Affordability and Public Trust.

“The Virginia General Assembly deserves a great deal of credit for helping us avoid a tuition increase,” said Robin Sullenberger, chair of the State Board for Community Colleges. “Their decision to increase General Fund appropriations gave us the resources necessary to meet the inevitable operating expense increases without asking our students to pay more. We applaud their efforts during the 2019 legislative session.”

Further, the State Board maintained the existing tuition rate for out-of-state students, which is $351.60 per credit hour. The Board approved a technical fee increase for capital cost recovery that applies only to out-of-state students, who make up approximately 5 percent of the total enrollment at Virginia’s Community Colleges.