<p>I am currently listening to a podcast and they're talking about elite public institutions and how in the future they may not be able to compete with the elite privates. I know this may be true for universities like Cal or UNC who are very dependent on the state, but is it different for UVa who is not. Just a random question that I had and figured it would be answered here.</p>
<p>When we all get rich off our fantastic UVA degrees, we can donate a bunch of money and make UVA the bestest school in all the land.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is true. </p>
<p>Look at this: </p>
<p>[Promise</a> of Berkeley - Spring 2011: A new reality: Philanthropy fuels Cal’s future](<a href=“http://promise.berkeley.edu/spring_2011/new_reality/]Promise”>http://promise.berkeley.edu/spring_2011/new_reality/)</p>
<p>And Berkeley is having A LOT of financial problems.</p>
<p>Well that article sort of proves what the podcast was talking about; that unless top publics increase their endowments, the quality of education will decrease as they will be dependent on the unstable budgets that support them.</p>
<p>The state only gives UVa 6% of its budget – I think we’ll be much less affected by unstable (nonexistent) state funding than most other public universities.</p>
<p>UVa has already adjusted to greatly diminished state dollars. UVa gets much much less funding per in-state student than U. Michigan and UNC for example. </p>
<p>In return for a commitment to increase enrollment, the Governor has apparently made a commitment to propose increased state funding to UVa that would relate to each new in-state student. He also has committed many millions for building renovations. </p>
<p>President Sullivan recently said that there is plenty of housing, recreational facility and dining hall space for new students. However, there are not enough professors, which she is making a priority. </p>
<p>Whenever you look at state funding, you have to consider the percentage of the state funding that provides for academic expenses, not total expenses. Therefore, you have to separate out the medical center, and the services that are intended to be self-supporting or funded with student fees (such as housing, bus service, etc). Once you do that, you see that that state funding is still critical to keeping the in-state tuition at a reasonable cost.</p>
<p>To a certain extent, people in California were spoiled - they had great state universities funded almost entirely by the state, with low tuition. There were huge protests when that tuition went up to the national average for in-state public universities. Even a liberal Democratic governor like Jerry Brown realized those bargains were unsustainable.</p>
<p>This also underscores the need for UVa alums to keep donations coming in. Give what you can as soon as you are able.</p>
<p>Regardless, the state certainly isn’t paying its share of UVa’s academic costs – out-of-state students pay approximately 150% of the real cost of their education to help subsidize in-state students.</p>
<p>Just wondering (meaning not intended to be offensive or start an argument) but how do you calculate “the real cost of their education” so accurately?</p>
<p>Totally understandable, I shouldn’t have thrown that number out there without a source. It turns out I undershot the actual figure: as of July 2010, out of state students paid 239% of their real educational costs. That number is straight from the Board of Visitors, source: [url=<a href=“http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/cdp-news-local/2010/jul/11/uva_board_mulls_increased_tuition_enrollment-ar-318922/]UVa”>http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/cdp-news-local/2010/jul/11/uva_board_mulls_increased_tuition_enrollment-ar-318922/]UVa</a> board mulls increased tuition, enrollment | Daily Progress<a href=“ctrl+f%20and%20type%20239%20to%20find%20it%20in%20the%20article”>/url</a></p>
<p>And UVa is still considered a good value for out of state kids… it kind of shows how hyperinflated tuition costs at a lot of private schools have gotten lately. Regardless, even if I’m paying more than double what it costs UVa to teach me, I still feel like I’m getting my money’s worth – I wouldn’t be attending otherwise. UVa is a fantastic school that manages to do a lot with scarce resources.</p>
<p>UVa is often officially recognized as one of the most cost-effective major universities. Part of that efficiency is because of larger first year classes, and part is because UVa is not located in a very high cost geographic area (vs. Boston, DC, NYC, Chicago and Palo Alto). However, most of the efficiency is from high quality management and hard working profs and TAs.</p>
<p>(By the way, after I saw what my grad school was spending multiple millions on, I stopped giving them money. The dean of that other university’s engineering school bragged that he is the "only person to personally travel to Venice just to pick out Venetian blinds " for a new building. He also talked about the work crews they had hand-sanding concrete floors for months just to get the perfect appearance he wanted).</p>