Area colleges raise tuition, but not by much

While colleges in Central Virginia increased their tuition for the 2009-10 year, several did so at a lower rate than previous years.

Liberty University, Lynchburg College and Randolph College each hovered at increases of between 3 and 4 percent, while Sweet Briar College stands at 7 percent.

According to a survey of 350 private colleges by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, many private colleges have responded to the economic downturn with lower-than-usual tuition rate increases, or in some cases, tuition freezes.

For more on costs at local colleges, see Local colleges report increase in financial aid requests

According to the study, the average tuition rate increase for 2009-10 is 4.3 percent, the lowest rate in 37 years; the average rate over the last 10 years has been 6 percent.

For the third consecutive year, Lynchburg College increased its tuition by 3 percent, said Michelle Davis, director of financial aid.

Liberty University also hovers below the national average.

Although the college originally planned to hike its tuition by 7 percent, Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. announced that it would be scaled back to 3.5 percent in January.

Randolph College’s 3.9 percent tuition raise is “one of the lowest tuition increases in a long time,” said John White, dean of enrollment and financial services.

Sweet Briar College raised its tuition and fees for the coming year by about 7 percent, said Dean of Admissions Ken Huus.

That will allow the college to pay for upgrades to network infrastructure and construction of an athletic center and new dorms, without any faculty layoffs, Huus said.

“We didn’t want our students’ academic experience to be jeopardized,” Huus said. “It was a hard thing to do because we knew that it was going to be a challenging time. But for the students who are here, we have got to maintain the quality of their education. So that was the tradeoff.”