"Rising tuition not solely to blame for rising costs of a college education" __________________________________________________________________________________

Title Athletics Debt Service Operation/Maintenance Scholarship* Student Organizations Total

Amount Per Student $1,098.66 $1,231.79 $743.00 $90.55 $200.00 $3,384.00

% Change from Last Year 9.5% Increase -9.0% Decrease 18.9% Increase (New Fee for 2011-2012) 10.2% Increase 8.0% Increase

*(The scholarship fee was a newly implemented fee for the 2011-2012 Academic year. All full time undergraduate students are required to pay a $90 annual fee to fund athletic scholarships for student athletes) Just imagine what those dollars could mean if they were transferred back into the academic component of the college. Would you see your tuition increase another 8.5%? Maybe get a better internet/wireless network for the campus. Maybe allow for more research opportunities for students and equipment in classrooms; access to more academic sources through databases and collections. What were you paying a decade ago? The Academic year 200-2001 you paid a total student fee of $1,400 and an athletic fee of $534.66. Academic year 2011-2012 you paid $3,174.00 in student fees and $1,003.67 in athletic fees. Student fees have increased 44.10% in 11 years Athletic fees have increased 53.27%. Student Fee Student Fee 200-2001 $1,400.00

Student Fee 2011-2012 $3,384.00

% Change 141.71%

$ Change $1,984.00

Athletic Fee Athletic Fee Athletic Fee 200-2001 2011-2012 $534.66 $1,098.66

% Change 105.46%

$ Change $564.00

Now I want you to compare these figures to the rising costs in tuition you are paying: Tuition Tuition Fee 200-2001 $1,930.00

Tuition Fee: 2011-2012 $4,357.00

% Change 125.75%

$ Change $2,427.00

As you can see there is a continuing trend in rising costs of tuition and associated student fees. Tuition alone is not the driving force which is increasing your overall financial commitment to attend college. Tuition for the most part is tied directly to the Commonwealth of VA's General Fund; money given to schools by the state. As contributions from the state decrease, public educational institutions make up the difference by raising tuition to cover associated costs. Student Fees however are not set by the state nor are they influenced by the states amount of funding. The programs funded by the student fee are not funded through the general fund and as such receive no tax payer subsidy. These fees can be controlled and limited, and should be so students are not hit with a one, two, financial KO punch from both tuition increases and student fee increases. There is no transparency and hence no constituency to act as a brake -Professor Meyers from William and Mary. That fees can be abused either through silence or by institutional deceitfulness that borders on untruthful. Even if the information is made available it is likely to be found in places that many families and students wouldn't know where to look. This information is not made available either through the main UVA Wise website, its official college catalog, or in any of the accessible files through the office of finance and administration's budget office...that information simply is not available to students, parents, or citizens of the Commonwealth.