Where Exactly Is Your Money Going
Nicole Dales
Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: News
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The budget breaks down into two basic divisions. There is the educational and general (E&G) side and the auxiliary side. The E&G side is made up from tuition, state funding and class fees. The auxiliary side is made up from the comprehensive fees, parking fees, and room and board and includes all the services that have to pay for themselves.
State law mandates that everything for the auxiliary part of the budget has to be paid for through revenue. This is also considered the "user fee," which is paid by the people who use the facility. The state only provides 34 percent of the budget. The rest has to be made up through other fees.
E&G pays for the assistant dean, campus police, dean of students, disability services, multicultural affairs, vice president of student affairs, and the volunteer and service leaning program. Auxiliary pays for the recreation center, intramural sports, student health, student union, transportation, phone services, housing, commuter student lounge, and honor and judicial programs. It also pays for the upkeep of the auxiliary buildings and utilities. To compensate for extra costs, when the school constructs a new building they get a 20-year bond. The school still has debt on the dining facility, recreation center, parking garage, athletic fields and improvements to Willett Hall, part of which is paid from the comprehensive fee each year.
"Compare us to JMU or Tech. We have fewer students, but we want to offer the same services," said Kathy Worster, vice president for administration and finance. "If Virginia Tech adds $1 to each student's comprehensive fee, they just got $25,000. If Longwood adds $1 to each student's comprehensive fee, then they get around $4,000," she added.
"It's been estimated that a student spends 80 percent of their time outside of a classroom. Our goal is for you to have a successful career here. All of these services are to help you succeed. Your physical and emotional health is all important. Everything needs to be clicking," said Tim Pierson, vice president for student affairs.
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