Report: U-Va Should Be a Private University

charlieschm
Fri, 13 Sep 2013 10:54:56 +0000

From the limited information that was available, Dragas last year was looking for spending cuts at the U., which probably would have involved cuts in academic programs.

Pres. Sullivan has been looking for ways to increase faculty compensation, after a few years of pay freezes. Fortunately, UVa did not need to institute layoffs, unlike many other universities over the last few years.

More recently, Dragas reconstituted herself as the champion of avoiding tuition increases on in-state students.

The state this year did increase funding by $8 million, after many years of cuts. It might help that the Guv’s twin sons are both at UVa. The state also provided special funding to pay a portion of the cost of the Rotunda restoration and to pay most of the cost to completely rehab “New” Cabell Hall.

In any case, this is part of a national trend. Almost every state has cut higher education funding over the past few years. That trend was not only caused by decreased revenues during the Recession, but also the fact that Medicaid and employee health insurance and pension costs are soaking up much higher percentages of all state budgets. In most states, the percentage of spending that was cut from education has gone directly to Medicaid.