Apparently, AccessUVA wasn’t a premeditated work involving years of planning as much as a hasty reaction to compete with UNC, the New York Times reports today. An article on increasingly generous financial aid packages details an October 2003 Board of Visitors meeting where UVA President John Casteen was handed a press clipping on UNC’s decision to cover the full cost for students whose families earned less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level. The Times writes, “The program touched a nerve with Mr. Casteen,” the son of a shipyard worker. During the meeting, he ordered financial aid staff to put together an even better program, which was announced four months later at the next BOV meeting.
Previous "This Just In" articles from this week:
Local news, defined [April 19]
NBC29 raises the color bars
State launches wine distribution company [April 18]
Aims to help small vineyards that are not allowed to distribute their own wines
Let it shine [April 17]
UVA holds memorial service on the one-year anniversary of Virginia Tech shootings
Charlottesville developer looks north [April 16]
Octagon Partners to build 22 condos in Culpeper
Area shotputter headed to Olympics [April 15]
Won silver in 2000 and 2004