Students attending the University of the Virgin Islands can look forward to paying more for tuition, meal plans and graduation regalia. Members of the UVI Board of Trustees voted to approve increases proposed by the Finance and Budget Committee at a meeting held Saturday morning.
Seven-percent tuition hikes are expected to appear starting this fall, followed by a second round of increases at the same level in Fall 2024. Student meal plans are expected to rise by around $500 annually. Fees to use the wellness center on the St. Thomas campus were approved to increase from $25 to $50. Graduation caps and gowns, diplomas and other materials will go up from $75 to $125.
Hall told the board that students graduating in Spring 2023 will not face higher graduation fees. Those charges will appear the following year, he said.
Both UVI President David Hall and committee chair Oran Roebuck said an increase in fees was necessary. Hall added that those students who are either eligible or enrolled under the school’s free tuition program will not be affected by the change in tuition rates. However, tuition hikes will apply to students who do not qualify under the free tuition policy.
Roebuck said that budget and finance began working out the new fee schedules after having a discussion with Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. The governor urged the committee to review its fee structure to help UVI cover its operational needs and expenses, other than depending on increasing its annual budget requests to the executive branch.
The university, like WAPA, the Port Authority, and other semi-autonomous agencies, is included in the governor’s budget but may not receive the funding levels given to executive branch agencies.
Trustees meeting Saturday also approved the committee’s $43 million budget request for Fiscal Year 2024 and voted in favor of a land swap deal with the Port Authority for 0.822 acres of the school’s soccer field in exchange for the land under the old West Bay Supermarket.
West Bay was acquired by UVI, which converted it into an innovation center for the St. Thomas campus. Trustees board chairman Henry Smock said completing the exchange was a matter that had been dear to his heart for many years.
Smock said he wanted to see the parcel that was once leased by the Port Authority to Merchant’s Market for a warehouse at the corner of the school’s golf course become part of the campus. “It just seemed logical that, that particular land should belong to the university,” the chairman said.
