Go here for the full database, courtesy Virginia Tech’s Collegiate Times.  Here are the top earners at Longwood:

The Longwood Board of Visitors voted to increase tuition by 4.5% in the Spring semester, according to an email sent by SGA president Cam Patterson.  This increase is due, Patterson said, to state stimulus funds that the university has not received:

We were supposed to receive stimulus funding from the state to help with operation cost, but we have not received those funds and there is no clear cut sign that we will receive that money at all. The 4.5% increase will result in a 7$ [sic] per credit hour tuition increase and 105$ [sic] total for those taking 15 credit hours. This money will help to alleviate the burden that has been brought about due to the lack of stimulus funding. This increase only helps us to cover the operating cost for this year.

The BoV also voted to raise the comprehensive fee a dollar per credit hour to finance the hiring of a One Card Manager.  Patterson wrote:

The One Card is something that has been discussed for the past 10 years. This card will act like a debate [sic] card and students / faculty and staff will be able to use it at various vendors around town and to pay certain bills on campus. Parents can place money on the card via a online source or the parent/student can have the cashiering office do it. The total price will be $15 per student. Vendors like Kroger’s, CVS, McDonald’s, Subway and a few others have already bought into this service.

Patterson added that the tuition rates do not yet reflect impending budget cuts.  “We still have to focus on the cuts that will be levied by the Governor on December 18th and the General Assembly when they convene for session. These cuts will impact tuition for the 2010-2011 academic year.”

Sure, it’s hard to find a job these days — but it all evens out, because now you get out of school with more debt!

Yesterday, The Roanoke Times reported that sixty-three percent of the 2008 Longwood graduates finished in debt an average of $14, 935 each.  Out of the fifteen public institutions in the state, this is third worst: Radford and Old Dominion were first and second, respectively.

The article includes the full report, which was conducted by Matt Reed of Institute for College Access and Success.  According to the arcticle:

The report is one of many tools parents and students can use to decide on the best school for them, said Matt Reed, author of the report and program director for the institute.

Reed said the report demonstrates that families and students should look at more than the sticker price of tuition and compare financial aid packages and the estimated total cost of attendance including housing, all of which can vary widely from school to school.

Yeah.  And as we’ve already learned, Longwood is already on the verge of overpricing itself out of its market of small public schools.  Thus, further raising tuition rates will be detrimental both to potential students and to current students who must bear more debt in a dismal job climate.

Have a great weekend!

Last week, the debate over how Longwood University will weather state budget cuts while remaining a competitive, competent institution caught the attention of the student body.

One Facebook group titled Education Before Athletics has a membership — as of this writing – of 453 members, composed of students, student athletes, professors, and alumni.   The argument is over whether Longwood athletics should remain at a Division I level, a frustrating thing to argue, especially when it’s revealed that this was never proposed by anyone in a position of authority.

What was proposed, in the Resolution on the Longwood University Budget put forth by Academic Advisory Committee, was that “ tuition increases in FY2011 be made cost-neutral to students through a reduction in the Athletic component of the Comprehensive Fee, and that other components of the Comprehensive Fee remain level-funded.”

We believe this is a logical choice that should be considered by President Comier, Dr. McWee, and the Board of Visitors.  We do appreciate the contribution of Longwood athletics, which has performed well in Division I, finishing the 2008-2009 academic year with a cumulative win percentage just under .500.   However, we fear that Longwood’s already tenuous reputation as an academic institution will suffer huge damages if professors and other essential faculty are made to suffer the brunt of the budget cuts.

In the presentation given by Dr. Brian Bates on behalf of the AAC, a number of worrying facts were presented:

Slide 17: Longwood's tution and comprehensive fee has been consistently higher than peer institutions

Slides 21-22: The athletic portion of the comprehensive fee has swelled from 32% to 48% in seven years.

The presentation goes on to propose that the comprehensive fee be scaled back in order for Longwood to remain competitive.  It says “The only area within Comp Fee that has seen meteoric growth is the Athletic budget.”

It then demonstrates the maintenance of comprehensive fee that would be cost-neutral to students, and keep Longwood competitive amongst peer institutions.  The penultimate slide ends with a plea by the faculty:

What the hell is the core mission of Longwood?  Is it to have, above all, a ballin’ ass athletic program that will spread the good news of our pretty little school in Farmville?

No.  It’s this:

Longwood University is an institution of higher learning dedicated to the development of citizen leaders who are prepared to make positive contributions to the common good of society. Building upon its strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, the University provides an environment in which exceptional teaching fosters student learning, scholarship, and achievement. As the only four-year public institution in south central Virginia, Longwood University serves as a catalyst for regional prosperity and advancement.

Approved by the Longwood Board of Visitors, July 1997.

“…exceptional teaching fosters student learning, scholarship, and achievement.”  Meaning, the Longwood BOV purports to care about the education of its students, all of its students.  The Mission has nothing to do with the extracurricular and everything to do with the curricular.

As well it should: Longwood’s ”brand” is staked on the quality of the students it produces, not on how many times our name appears on the ESPN.  Having a strong academic product to back the brand is the only way to grow.  Schools with prominent athletic programs almost always have a supportive alumni base; students are not leeched upon in the name of athletic glory.  Instead, happy graduates donate to their Alma Mater.

Will our athletic program lose its Division I status if their portion of the comprehensive fee is reduced?  We don’t know.  Possibly.  But we feel that seeing Longwood lose its Division I status is a much more preferable alternative to seeing professors, those who are here to serve all students, not just the athletes, lose their jobs because of budget cuts.