Tuition Rates Rise in Virginia

Students Start Innovative Penny Pinching

By Broadside Correspondent Brenda Shepard

Universities across the country have felt the blow of the recent economic crisis, and George Mason University is not exempt from these hard times.  From 2005 to 2009, Mason has increased its in-state tuition 37.9 percent. This year alone, Mason has increased tuition for in-state students by 6.8 percent from $7,512 to $8,024 including fees.

This year Mason joins other Virginia state schools such as William and Mary, Old Dominion and Christopher Newport University, by increasing tuition for both in-state and out-of-state students.  Mason is in good company among its sister state schools in Virginia who are upping tuition.  

According to The Roanoke Times, “Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors approved a 10.8 percent increase for in-state students.” 

When compared to other Virginia state school’s tuition, Mason is of comparable cost with the likes of James Madison University, University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Mason boasts students from all 50 states and 130 countries around the world. With students traveling from far and wide to attend school, however, there are few who have escaped the wrath of tuition increases.

“I'm paying for school with a combination of financial aid grants, loans and money from my dad. My financial aid dropped from last year, so it was challenging to come up with more money even without the raising of tuition,” said Max Wolfson, a junior government and international politics major and an in-state student

“Cost wouldn't change my mind about coming to Mason, but I feel bad for students who might not be able to attend because of the increase,” said Wolfson. 

Some students now have to take on one or two jobs, as well as use more student loans. Other students have even chosen to forgo daily necessities in order to pay tuition.  
 

“It affected me so much, in fact, that even with my $9,500 a semester financial aid, I had to cancel my meal plan because I couldn't afford it. It was more important to me to limit money on food than to not go to Mason at all,” said sophomore communication major Lindsey Leach. “I’m not starving,” Leach said, “but I just don't get to go out as much.”

The Admissions Department has seen its own changes, but not due to tuition increases. “[W]e were up front in estimating likely tuition increases, and with that in mind we still had our most successful recruitment season in Mason's history; more applicants and higher profile applicants, with about the same out of state representation and similar diversity” said Andrew Flagel, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Development and Dean of Admissions for Mason.

Students are considering community colleges, such as the Northern Virginia Community College, in order to save money before transferring credits over to more expensive universities, but this swell in tuition has not stopped transfer students from joining our ranks.

“We had a large increase in transfer applicants [12.5 percent] both in and out of state, from both two-year and four-year institutions,” said Flagel.  According to budget.gmu.edu, Mason had the third largest head count among the Virginia institutions of higher education last fall.

The budget website states that “. . . the University will increase tuition and fees for in-state, undergraduate students by 6.8 percent or $512 per year, which is higher than the average tuition and fee increase of all the state schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia for FY 2010.”