Norfolk State Raises in-State Tuition 8.3 Percent

By Philip Walzer, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Mar. 18–NORFOLK — In-state undergraduates at Norfolk State University will pay nearly $400 — or 8.3 percent — more in tuition and fees in the 2006-07 school year.

The charge, excluding room and board, will rise from $4,670 to $5,056 for full-time students under a plan unanimously approved Friday by the university’s Board of Visitors.

Some board members initially questioned the size of the increase.

Howard Kern , the chairman of the board’s finance committee, noted that it exceeds national inflation figures. Bobby Vassar , another board member whose daughter is a junior at Norfolk State, said in jest: “I’m going to ask if you have checked if parents’ salaries have increased accordingly.”

If Norfolk State followed the state’s guidelines, budget officials said, the tuition increase would be higher.

Virginia encourages public universities to charge students about one-third of the cost of their education, said Kevin Appleton , the vice president for finance and business. With the tuition increase, NSU will stay at 20 percent, he said.

“Norfolk State will remain one of the most affordable institutions in the state,” Appleton said. Even after the increases, the tuition-and-fees total will be less than this year’s rates at every public four year-university in Virginia except Virginia State, according to state figures . Virginia State has not yet set its rates for the fall.

At Old Dominion University, undergraduates from Virginia pay $5,614 a year in tuition and fees. ODU’s board is expected to consider tuition rates next month .

Appleton said he hoped increases in state money for financial aid will blunt the impact for low-income students. About 84 percent of the university’s students receive financial aid.

The tuition increases, Appleton said, will help pay for raises and increased operating costs, including the RISE technology center, set to open in the fall .

Annual room and board rates for sharing a double room will increase to about $6,750, from $6,474 .

Also at the board meeting, Norfolk State’s interim president, Alvin Schexnider , said he had written a letter to members of Congress on behalf of former professor Yacob Hailemariam , who was imprisoned in Ethiopia last fall after winning a seat in Parliament.

In the letter, Schexnider described Hailemariam as a “prisoner of conscience” and a “champion of freedom and democracy.”

“Accordingly,” Schexnider wrote, “the Norfolk State University family strongly encourages and appreciates the intervention of the United States in the release of Dr. Hailemariam.”

Reach Philip Walzer at (757) 222-5105 or phil.walzer@pilotonline.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

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