University of Virginia Library

Hopkins Claims Administrators
Play Fund Allocation 'Games'

By BARBARA HAND

"College presidents have been playing
a game with the General Assembly for
years" by asking for more money than
they actually expect to spend, said State
Senator William B. Hopkins of Roanoke.

The Democratic senator, according to
a Roanoke newspaper, said that the
colleges could realistically spend only $61
million in capital outlay in the next
biennium, although they have asked for
more than $500 million.

Mr. Hopkins said that in the 1960's
the General Assembly became aware of
the colleges' needs and became fairly
generous with appropriations. "But the
colleges are still playing the same
game," he continued, "asking for more
money than they need."

Mr. Hopkins' attitude is shared by
Delegate James M. Thomson of
Alexandria. The House Democratic leader
has criticized what he called the push of
many college presidents to make their
school "more Ohio States." Virginia Tech
and the University are the targets of most
criticism.

Senator Paul W. Manns of Carolina, a
member of the Senate Education
Committee and secretary-treasurer of the
Southern Regional Education Board,
disagrees with Mr. Hopkins' assertion
about the "game" college presidents are
playing, which Mr. Manns said "is
misleading and casts aspiration on the
colleges and universities at a time when
Virginia still lags behind its sister states in
providing educational services to its
citizens."

He reminded Mr. Hopkins that the
House Appropriations Committee created
a Capital Outlay Coordinating
Commission last November and guidelines
were utilized, he said, and as a result the
total requests for new college building for
the next biennium totalled $198 million
for all the institutions..

In operating expenditures at the
colleges, Mr. Manns said, Virginia ranks
tenth of the 13 southern region states,
appropriating $1,048 from the general
fund per full-time equivalent student. Per
capita, Virginia spends $29.96 on higher
education against a national average of
$34.98.

Mr. Manns said the figures attest to the
need for greater and not less support for
higher education if Virginia is to become
the leader in the region and the nation.

Governor Linwood Holton has
remained silent about his budget while it
is in preparation and has made no public
disclosures on any tax plans aside from
expressing a hope that ways would be
found to give the low-income taxpayer a
"better break."

Though Mr. Hopkins opposes money
increases to state-supported schools, he
favors subsidizing students at the state's
private colleges. These colleges, he
indicated, have about 500 vacancies
which could be filled by state students if
tuitions were not so much higher than at
state schools.