RICHMOND, VA — The Virginia Business Higher Education Council (VBHEC) and Growth4VA today released a chart that details Virginia’s per-student state support of higher education compared to neighboring states Maryland, North Carolina, and Tennessee and the United States average.
In 2020, Virginia spent $6,519 per student on higher education compared to $10,742 in North Carolina and $10,969 in Tennessee, leaving it to students and families in the Commonwealth to cover a larger share through tuition and fees.
VBHEC chair Dennis H. Treacy, said, “Virginia’s top-notch higher education system sets us apart, but we will not maintain that advantage or keep our best-state-for-business ranking unless we meet the competitive challenge by making critical investments. Affordable access to higher education is the key to better jobs for Virginians and a world-class workforce. With the $2.6 billion budget surplus and other resources, we have a once-in-generations chance to invest in opportunity for all our students and to make Virginia the top state for talent. We believe there’s no better investment right now than higher education.”
VBHEC has applauded recent bipartisan efforts in Virginia to reinvest in higher education and has expressed appreciation to the Governor and General Assembly. But a large gap remains, and the current level of state funding falls far short of the Commonwealth’s own declared goal.
“Ten years ago, the Governor’s higher ed commission and General Assembly set a goal that students and their families should only have to pay one-third of college costs, said Todd A. Stottlemyer, VBHEC’s treasurer and CEO of CNSI, Inc. “Despite a lot of good efforts, the state still is not paying two-thirds. It’s paying about half. Now is the time to meet that two-thirds goal and, in the process, answer the competitive challenge posed by neighboring states.”
Last week, the Virginian-Pilot/Daily Press Editorial Board agreed Virginia needs to do more to make its support for higher education more competitive, writing, “OK, but here’s the core issue — the political nut of it all: Neighboring states are beating Virginia’s brains out by investing more on a per-student basis. That has to change and, to its ever-lasting credit, the Virginia Business Higher Education Council has advanced a navigation chart.”
In July the Northam Administration reported a $2.6 billion surplus, which is the largest in Virginia’s history. The historic surplus gives Virginia a once-in-generations opportunity to allocate meaningful investment to our higher education system to promote affordability and access, talent pathways, innovation, and opportunity.
A recent statewide survey released by Growth4VA indicated that 90% of Virginians in both parties agree that providing Virginians with degrees and credentials that lead to good jobs in the new economy is the most important investment the state can make.
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