News Release
Southern Virginia University Lowers Tuition by 23 Percent
Southern Virginia University President Paul K. Sybrowsky today announced that the university will lower tuition by 23 percent for the 2014–2015 academic year.
Beginning fall 2014, tuition for all students at Southern Virginia will be $14,600 per year — 25 percent lower than tuition would have been with the projected 3 percent increase for that semester and 23 percent lower than the current academic year’s tuition of $18,900 per year.
“This tuition reset is part of our ongoing effort to provide a high-quality education to students from all walks of life,” said President Sybrowsky. “Last year, we chose not to increase tuition, and after extensive research, we have chosen to take our efforts a step further. We hope that by adjusting tuition, we can help students afford the cost of an excellent educational experience.”
President Sybrowsky said that the university will not cut any programs or “lessen the quality of a Southern Virginia education in any way” as a result of the tuition reset.
“This change comes in a time of tremendous growth and strength,” he said. “We have full regional accreditation and have recently become provisional members of the NCAA Division III. We have begun competing within the Capital Athletic Conference and have launched a teacher licensure program in conjunction with the Rockbridge Teacher Education Consortium. We are also well on our way to achieving our goals to construct a number of new facilities and fund more scholarships and professorships through our ongoing Capital Campaign.”
According to Brett Garcia, vice president of enrollment and marketing at Southern Virginia, university leaders decided to reset tuition, changing from a “high-cost/high-discount model to a low-cost/low-discount model,” after researching the way that prospective students viewed the university’s costs.
“Our research indicates that prospective students are often confused by our current tuition and scholarship program and experience ‘sticker shock’ when visiting our tuition page,” said Garcia. “Many of these students leave our website without understanding that financial aid options dramatically reduce the cost for many of our students. We believe that with this change, our tuition will be not only more affordable, but also more accurate, as very few of our students actually pay the current sticker price.”
Garcia said that though the university will also lower institutional scholarships and grants, the reduced tuition will still be more affordable for students.
“Students who qualify for federal or state financial aid will be able use a greater percentage of their aid to cover tuition,” said Garcia. “And for the few students who already pay close to the sticker price, this tuition reset will lower their costs and guarantee that they will spend less than $7,300 per semester.”
The tuition reset, bringing tuition to an annual cost of $14,600, will make Southern Virginia one of the most affordable liberal arts institutions in the region and even more affordable than some of the state’s public universities.