FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DCC TUITION TO INCREASE

FOR SPRING SEMESTER 2003

            DANVILLE, VA, October 17, 2002 --- It will cost a bit more for students to attend Danville Community College beginning spring semester 2003. During a special business meeting today in Richmond, the State Board for Community Colleges voted to raise tuition rates by $12.25 per credit hour. Starting in January, tuition for Virginia residents will be $52.71 per credit hour, while the tuition for out-of-state students will be $198.64 per credit hour.

            This increase comes to help offset the eight percent cut this year, and 10 percent next year, to the general operating budget of Virginia’s 23 community colleges announced by Gov. Mark R. Warner earlier this week.

            “The Commonwealth of Virginia is going through tough financial times right now, and our administration, faculty, staff and students are standing with the Governor to get the state back on track,” said Dr. Glenn DuBois, Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System. “However, we are still committed to holding true to our mission of being the point of access to higher education in the State, which includes making higher education accessible and affordable for everyone.”

            Currently, tuition at Virginia’s community colleges is $40.46 per credit hour,  plus a $3 technology fee. There was no change in the technology fee for spring semester.

“While tuition is increasing, DCC is more aggressive than ever in providing opportunities for financial aid and scholarships,” said Dr. Carlyle Ramsey, DCC President. “We want to try to minimize the impact the tuition increase may have on our students.”

Tuition and fees at Virginia community colleges are currently ranked 43rd out of 50 states, with 42 states having higher tuition and fees at the community college level.  Even with the tuition increase, the VCCS rates are about one-third less than the average tuition rate of Virginia’s four-year colleges.

Before last fall, tuition had not increased for Virginia community colleges since 1995; however, in 1999-2000, tuition was reduced by 20 percent. 

More than 234,000 students take at least one credit course annually at a Virginia community college. Another 125,000 Virginians are served through noncredit workforce programs, thus allowing the VCCS to touch the lives of more than 350,000 Virginians each year.

Ninety-four percent of community college students are Virginia residents.