The 2010 Acts of the Assembly, Chapter 874, directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to conduct a study on state financial aid. In support of this directive, SCHEV conducted a series of meetings with representatives from each public four-year college or university, Richard Bland College, and representatives from the…

The Commonwealth of Virginia, like the rest of the nation, has endured the effects of an historical economic recession for the past three years. While Virginia is perhaps no longer in recession, the still fragile economy is a major cause for concern. Shrinking tax revenues and the need to balance the state's budget led the 2010 General Assembly to…

In Virginia, sufficient state support is essential to the vitality of the state's network of public higher education institutions as it currently exists. Unfortunately, a crisis in the funding of Virginia's public higher education system has been evolving over the last two decades. Between 1992 and 2010, general fund appropriations to public…

In its 2007-13 strategic plan, Advancing Virginia: Access, Alignment, Investment, the State Council highlighted 12 strategic higher education initiatives that it believed were necessary to ensure Virginia's future. Key among these goals was improvement of the affordability of a college education in the Commonwealth. Recent events have reinforced…

In order to speed the national economic recovery, create and save jobs, and provide services to people affected by the recession, the 111th United States Congress enacted and President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)--an economic stimulus package worth $787 billion--on February 17, 2009. Virginia…