The UVA Board of Visitors today approved a 4.3 in-state tuition hike, an increase the University plans to use to support a major faculty hiring push.
The total cost of an in-state education at UVA—including tuition, fees, room and board, and books—will rise by $949 to $27,417, according to reports by Newsplex and The Daily Progress. Out-of-state tuition will go up by 5.9 percent.
The Board finance committee said reported that the increases are necessary to support the University’s goals of creating more competitive salaries for its staff and faculty as part of a five-year plan approved last fall.
The tuition hike will help fund the extensive hiring strategy outlined in the “Cornerstone Plan” approved by the Board in November. According to UVA’s own coverage of the five-pillar plan, the fourth pillar will include the “generational replacement” of close to half of the University’s faculty over the next seven years in response to the wide scale retirement of older staff.
Last spring, when the American Association of University Professors’ ranking of schools by faculty pay put UVA at No. 34, the Board said it was committed to pushing the University into the top 20 on the list. Earlier this month, the AAUP’s latest salary ranking saw UVA slip to No. 40, behind the Ivies as well as Rutgers University, Emory, American University, and the University of Miami.—Matthew Fay