Virginia Community Colleges increased tuition for first time in five years

RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia State Board for Community Colleges voted unanimously to increase tuition for the first time in five years in order to maintain quality education.

The increase of $4.61, or 3%, is expected to go into effect for the 2023-2024 academic year. The decision to raise the tuition was delayed since May as the board was waiting for the General Assembly to conclude deliberations regarding the state budget.

However, as the Assembly’s decision remained ongoing, the board decided to go ahead and vote in order to ensure continued quality of education.

“We reviewed the options of further delaying a decision, which would have adversely impacted our students, or we could move forward with a tuition increase to ensure continued high-quality instruction,” said Peggy Layne, chairwoman of the State Board of Virginia’s Community Colleges. “Unfortunately, this increase will not fully cover all of the cost pressures faced by our community colleges in these inflationary times.”

The new rate is $158.61 per credit hour, or $2,379.15 for a 15 credit-hour semester. The increase only applies to tuition costs as other mandatory fees will vary at the community college level.

There were no increases to the tuition differential rates charged at eight of Virginia’s 23 community colleges including: Brightpoint, Germanna, Northern Virginia, Piedmont Virginia, Reynolds, Tidewater, Virginia Peninsula and Virginia Western.

Tuition differential rates allow colleges to address unique and specific institutional priorities. The revised tuition rates, that are inclusive of the tuition differential, specific to these colleges will be posted on their websites.

“Keeping Virginia’s Community Colleges accessible to Virginians will remain a top priority,” said David Doré, Ph.D., Chancellor for Virginia’s Community Colleges. “Our community colleges will continue to do everything we can to remain affordable, deliver high-quality instruction and support Virginians as they pursue better jobs and better lives through postsecondary education and training.”