May 6, 2011

A Message from President Hurley

Today our Board of Visitors approved the tuition, fees, room, and board rates for the academic year 2011-2012. The details are available at www.umw.edu/studentaccounts/tuition/, but I wanted to provide some contextual information, particularly for our undergraduate students and their families.

About 80 percent of our undergraduates are in-state, full-time students who live and eat on campus. Those students will see an 8.8 percent average increase this year, or a total annual average cost of $17,274. An out-of-state student in a similar living situation will pay an average $29,002, an increase of 5.1 percent. This represents a $1,400 increase over last year for both in- and out-of-state students.

Even in the face of these increases, UMW will remain one of the top values for higher education in the nation. Current data on 2010-11 tuition and fees indicate that UMW is very competitive with other public institutions in Virginia. Of the 15 public universities in the state, only five charge less than UMW for total tuition and fees for in-state residential students. The value of a UMW education when considering cost has been recognized as being one of the best by such selective publications as the Fiske Guide to Colleges, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and Forbes.com. Demand for admission remains strong, and freshman fall enrollment is at capacity.

More important is what’s to come. The 2011-12 budget includes funding for essential projects that support the University’s strategic plans and goals. Among those initiatives are:

– New academic positions and academic support staff

– Continued development of the College of Business, including the hiring of a new dean

– Continuing development of the Honors Program

– Additional funding for library collections

This year the University will offset higher tuition by providing additional financial assistance for those with demonstrated need. Since 2008, Mary Washington has increased financial aid by 269 percent.  Priorities this year include the addition of $215,000 in funding for Presidential Diversity Scholarships and new funding of $100,000 for need-based aid for in-state undergraduate students.

In the upcoming academic year, we will continue to face financial challenges due not only to the long-term declining trend in state funding, including a $1.5 million reduction next year, but also due to the end of $3.7 million in federal stimulus funding.  Since 2008, state funding for the University of Mary Washington has been reduced five times, resulting in a total reduction of $6.7 million and a 28 percent loss of state support for our operating budget.

This year Gov. Bob McDonnell and the General Assembly passed legislation to reinvest in higher education in Virginia, and for the first time since 2007 there were no unanticipated reductions in state funding. Though our elected leaders support the importance of higher education and have taken steps to begin reinvesting, Virginia must balance many competing needs for public funds.

To meet future financial challenges, the University of Mary Washington will have to find new sources of revenue, encourage additional private philanthropy, and continue to become even more innovative and efficient. We are committed to doing everything within our power to make that happen.

Enrollment in the University of Mary Washington provides access to a premier, selective, public liberal arts and sciences university that provides an intensely personal and participatory educational experience. We attract talented, highly able, and intellectually curious undergraduate and graduate students who want rigorous academics in a supportive, values-driven community. Our small, interactive classes motivate students to prepare, participate, and embrace new knowledge, and they leave with a valuable education.

As we move forward, the families benefitting from what the University of Mary Washington experience provides are being asked increasingly to help shoulder the costs of one of the best undergraduate educations in the country. To offset that burden, we are raising new private funds for financial aid, both need-based and merit-based, and we have intensified our efforts to build a powerful philanthropic foundation.

We are ever mindful of the costs of higher education, and I pledge to provide the best stewardship available of your investment dollars.

Sincerely,
Richard V. Hurley
President
University of Mary Washington