THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Instead of leaving Richmond in a funk as they have for the past several years, representatives of Virginia's colleges and universities departed the capital in a jubilant mood at the conclusion of the General Assembly session.
State aid to secondary education has been flat during the 1990s, but that changed during this legislative session. The biennial budget, which Gov. George Allen is expected to sign, boosts funding for higher education by $200 million, or 13 percent, over the next two years. Combined with a proposed two-year statewide college-tuition freeze, this is good news for the commonwealth's college students.
Local state schools were big winners. Christopher Newport University bagged an impressive 20.9 percent increase in state funding, or $5 million. This windfall bears testimony to the combined influence wielded by Del. Alan A. Diamonstein of Newport News and former U.S. Sen. Paul Trible, president of the Peninsula college.
In South Hampton Roads, college administrators also had something to celebrate. Officials at Old Dominion University were ebullient about their funding: a 17 percent increase over last year. An extra $16 million.
``I think this might have been the best year in our history,'' ODU's president James V. Koch told staff writer Philip Walzer.
ODU was the big winner statewide among universities with doctoral programs. Most of ODU's counterparts saw more modest increases, in the 13.3 percent range.
And Norfolk State University came away with a well-deserved increase of 14.7 percent - an additional $6.1 million. NSU officials have complained in the past that per-pupil state aid is low: In fact, only two other state-supported four-year schools get less.
All in all, this was a banner year for higher education in Virginia. Many members of the General Assembly promised voters during their election campaigns that they would increase state support for Virginia's colleges and universities. They are to be commended for keeping their word. by CNB