Happy Halloween! One
of the most frightening thoughts to me is a student not being able to
afford higher education. For that reason, we are continuously developing
new ways to make a Virginia Wesleyan University education accessible
and affordable.
The
Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) program is particularly important
to students from the Commonwealth. Yesterday, in an effort to secure
continued support, I was pleased to speak on behalf of Virginia's 28
private colleges and universities at the State Council of Higher
Education for Virginia (SCHEV) in Richmond.
I shared my belief
that Virginia higher education is the envy of this country. Our higher
education system—private colleges, community colleges, and state
universities—cumulatively is viewed as outstanding. At Virginia
Wesleyan, we take students from inside and outside Virginia, provide an
outstanding education, and offer valuable incentives to remain here,
work here, and contribute to our communities.
And while a
vibrant, attractive place in which to learn is wonderful to have,
affordability is the single most important factor impacting retention.
Therefore, it is essential for us to work with our students and their
families to make a world-class education affordable. The TAG program is a
vital component of that strategy. TAG annually supports educational
opportunities for approximately 900 Virginia Wesleyan students and their
families, many of whom may otherwise be unable to afford the cost of a
private education.
To remain affordable, Virginia Wesleyan has
capped tuition and fees at their current level. We have established
Opus, an on-campus work program funded institutionally through a
generous gift by David and Kay Kaufman, to narrow the margin further. We
have a new, endowed honors program, the Batten Honors College, which
fully or partially funds 40 new academically talented students each year
and will grow to 160 endowed scholarships over four years. We have
widened access through early-enrollment and dual-enrollment programs.
Through ongoing capital fundraising, we have expanded institutional
grants and scholarships, and added attractive facilities including our
state-of-the-art Greer Environmental Sciences Center and Betty S. Rogers
Track and Field Center.
Virginia Wesleyan University is doing
our part to maintain accessibility and affordability—not just as
students enroll, but also as they progress through their academic
careers, and, often, stay to become productive citizens of our state. As
SCHEV finalizes budget recommendations for TAG going forward, the
Council has been asked to support funding which would provide a $3,400
TAG award for 2018—a modest increase.
The TAG program is
critical to our students’ success and our state’s vitality. I am
committed to urging policy makers to continue to support the growth of
this program that is truly an investment in the future of the
Commonwealth. To learn more about TAG and how you can take action, visit
www.cicv.org.
