Local Private Colleges Worried About Effects of Grant Cuts for Graduate Students

Local private colleges are bracing for a potential cut in the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of state assistance given to graduate students who are Virginia residents.

As part of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's effort to deal with a $3 billion budget shortfall, he recently proposed phasing out the State Council of Higher Education's Tuition Assistant Grants for graduate students.

Four private colleges in the Lynchburg area would be affected by the phase-out, which would save the state $2.1 million in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

Del. Shannon Valentine, D-Lynchburg, said she wants to restore the proposed phase-out because the grants benefit graduate students locally.

"I believe it is important to retain the funding," Valentine said, adding that she is drafting a budget amendment that would protect the grants to graduate students.

In fall 2008, Liberty University reported enrolling 362 graduate students who received the grant, which is the most at any school in the state, said Lee Andes, assistant director for financial aid at SCHEV.

At $1,900 per student, that amounts to about $688,000 in aid.

At Lynchburg College, 76 graduate students qualified for about $145,000 in aid last semester, Andes said.

Sweet Briar College had nine graduate students who received about $17,000, while Randolph College had five at $9,500.

Kaine's proposal, which is pending before the General Assembly, would halt new awards of tuition assistance to graduate students starting in July.

The proposal would not affect undergraduate recipients of the grant, who receive about $58 million annually.

Under the proposal, graduate students currently receiving the grants would continue to get them until they complete their programs.

Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said Thursday that private schools are asking the Assembly to reconsider the proposed bill and continue the TAG program in full, or as close to that as possible.

"It just makes it tougher for Virginia students who want to attend private college," he said. "It's the only thing that allows private schools to even exist in Virginia, because there's so much support provided to the state schools."

Michelle Davis, director of financial aid at Lynchburg College, said the TAG program is one of the few available to graduate students in Virginia.

Removal of the program may dissuade those students from enrolling at a private college, she said, which could decrease enrollment.

"It's just really unfortunate," Davis said.

The cut would trim the $60 million Tuition Assistance Grant program back to $58 million.

The tuition-assistance cut is one of several reductions proposed for higher education as Kaine and the General Assembly work on amending the 2009-2010 fiscal year budget.

For state-supported institutions, Kaine's proposed cuts would total $340 million. Almost $19 million of those reductions come from other tuition-support funds that don't include the TAG program.

Reed and Desrets are staff writers for The News & Advance in Lynchburg.