University of Virginia Library

Independent Colleges Ask
For State Financial Aid

By BARBARA HAND

The Council of Independent Colleges
in Virginia will ask the General Assembly
for scholarships of $800 per student for
Virginia residents attending the state's 26
private colleges.

"Severe financial stress and
overwhelming competition from public
higher education" was cited as the reason
for the CICV demand, which would total
approximately $13 million for the 16,000
in-state residents enrolled in private
colleges.

Eighteen of the 26 college members of
the newly formed council are already
operating in the red, according to a
booklet recently put together for the
council by two professors at public
colleges, W.H. McFarlane of George
Mason College and J.L. Chronister,
director of the Center for Higher
Education at the University.

The McFarlane-Chronister study found
that "escalating cost and lagging income
are the major problems" for the private
institutions. Publicly supported
institutions with their comparatively low
costs provide competition for the private
schools.

'State Monopoly'

"The otherwise desirable growth of
low-tuition public education in Virginia
may soon drive high-tuition public
education out of business," according to
the study. The authors add, "If current
trends continue, higher education could
become a virtual state monopoly in
Virginia."

Because of higher costs and sharpening
competition, enrollment in the 26 private
colleges was only one fifth of the total
state college enrollment in 1970, as
compared with one third in 1964,
according to CICV research.

Empty Desks

One result was nearly 5,000 empty
desks at the private institutions. The
CICV study argues that "at a time when
many public institutions are struggling to
accommodate booming enrollments, it is
poor economy to have private colleges
struggling to attract more students."

The study estimates that the state
subsidy to publicly supported colleges
runs about $800 a year per student,
about what it asks of the legislature in the
form of help for students in the private
schools

The call for help is addressed to a
legislature that is already the target of
unprecedented demands addressed to it
by the public colleges.

Public institutions have asked $535
million for the 1972-74 biennium, 91 per
cent more than the current biennium.
Governor Linwood Holton has already
indicated little enthusiasm for the plan at
a time when the budget is tight.