It’s true. Even after all of the talk this year at the 2017 General Assembly session about the cost of higher education in the state, Virginia Commonwealth University raised tuition. And this week the Richmond Times-Dispatch published an editorial saying, “another VCU price hike? C’mon.” The editorial called the tuition hike strictly a policy choice that parents should understand is…
At Norfolk State University, resource-strapped students feeling the pain of college tuition debt loads are speaking out, and speaking with ACT Now! on camera. “I can’t get my car fixed, my phone is broke, and I can’t get a new one right now. My house payment is kind of late, bills are kind of late,” said one student. That same…
Students at Virginia Commonwealth University recently voiced their concerns in a video interview with ACT Now! about the effects of ever-rising college tuition costs. For many students, the result is an unbearable load of debt facing them at the beginning of their post-college life. “It’s really daunting, when you’re 18 knowing you’re already $23,000 in debt. I’m 18 and I’m starting…
Colleges were on the defense this legislative session in Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported today. “The legislative season saw efforts to limit tuition, increase scrutiny of finances and curtail some of the autonomy that the schools gained when the General Assembly approved higher-education restructuring more than a decade ago,” the Virginia paper reported, highlighting specifically the nonprofit advocacy group called…
The campaign speech we’d all like to see from Virginia’s upcoming candidates for governor includes addressing the cost of college tuition in the Commonwealth. And today, The Roanoke-Times wrote and published it “in hopes that one of the six people running for governor – two Democrats, four Republicans – will claim it as their own.” “College costs too much,” Roanoke’s…
During the 2017 General Assembly session in Virginia, legislators took up multiple bills — filed by both Democrats and Republicans — to force state-supported colleges to reduce tuition. But all those bills, among others related to higher education reform, met the same fate. Killed. Why? The Roanoke Times took up that issue this week in its editorial pages here. “Here’s…
Why is the price tag so high? That’s what The Franklin News-Post asked in its pages this week. And they were referring to the cost of higher education. “We pay the price because we have to,” Brian Carlton wrote. “If we don’t, we’ll miss out on jobs and opportunity. That’s what everyone tells you when you’re deciding on a college…
“As a parent of four children who have attended, or will soon attend, one of Virginia’s public universities, I am acutely aware of the costs and challenges facing families and students today,” Siobhan Dunnavant wrote in the Richmond Times-Dispatch today. Dunnavant represents the 12th District in the Virginia Senate, and is a practicing OB-GYN in Henrico. “The fact is, college…
Today, in an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, David Ramadan, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates (2012-2016) and an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University, called on Senators to control college costs. “For all the lip service the Virginia legislature pays to making higher education more affordable, Virginia students who want nothing more than a college degree and…
One senator sees conflict as bills addressing higher-ed cost are thwarted, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported this week. “A state senator spoke out Tuesday against what he said is “an obvious conflict of interest” as legislation intended to address the cost of higher education continues to stall in the General Assembly,” the Richmond-based newspaper reported. “Sen. J. Chapman Petersen, D-Fairfax City,…