Education: Getting their money’s worth

The past year brought more big donations to Virginia’s universities, as well as the installation of a few new presidents, while students and families remained focused on finances and return on investment.

In Virginia Business’ August 2023 cover story, “Money machine,” the magazine examined the soaring costs of a four-year degree over the past decades, as well as the expected career earnings of alumni from school to school. These factors and others are weighing heavily on the minds of many students and their families — whether they’re traditional college students arriving straight from high school or older students pursuing degrees to qualify for new jobs.

According to a 2021 report commissioned by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, a bachelor’s degree from a public, four-year university can add from $765,000 to more than $1 million to a person’s lifetime earnings in the United States. However, two-year associate degrees provide better short-term return on investment, according to a 2022 report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. Associate degree and certificate holders brought in a median $141,000 in 10-year adjusted net earnings, compared with $107,000 for all college graduates.

Bachelor’s degrees are still important in many professional fields to get an entry-level job, but some employers — including the state government — have eliminated degree requirements for many jobs. In Virginia, 90% of all state jobs do not require a four-year degree now.

Additionally, the costs of a four-year university education can be steep; in Virginia, just over 1.1 million residents owed $43.8 billion in federal student loan debt last year, an average of $39,561, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Although the White House has made moves to forgive large swaths of student loan debt, legal challenges have stymied expansion, so just 21,500 Virginians and far have received loan forgiveness.

All of this adds up to more students and families considering alternatives to the traditional high school-to-college pipeline, which is more expensive than ever, running from an average of $27,940 to $57,570 a year for four-year colleges and universities when including room and board, according to the College Board.

“If you’re looking at affordability, you’re also looking at ROI,” explains Juan Espinoza, director of admissions and associate vice president for enrollment and degree management at Virginia Tech. “You can’t disconnect the two.”

Another major consideration on campuses is how colleges provide equitable opportunities for students while not running afoul of the Supreme Court’s ruling that race may not be taken into consideration in admissions. The June 2023 decision affects all four-year schools, with the exception of U.S. military service academies.

Furthermore, the University of Virginia said it would remove a “checkbox” for legacy admissions candidates on its applications, while Virginia Tech eliminated legacy admissions and early decision. The General Assembly passed bills this session to ban legacy admissions statewide, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin has said he supports merit-based admissions.

Among other developments in higher education over the past year, George Mason University’s business school received a
$50 million bequest in May 2023 from the late Loudoun County businessman Donald G. Costello, the largest individual gift in Mason’s 50-year history. Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute also received a $50 million gift last year from a foundation established by the estate of Richmond philanthropist Bill Goodwin’s late son, Hunter. And in Charlottesville, U.Va. received two $50 million donations last year — one from Ramon W. Breeden Jr. for business education and athletics, and the other from David and Kathleen LaCross, whose gift will go toward the Darden School of Business.   

Also, Gordon Robertson succeeded his famous late father, Pat Robertson, as chancellor of Virginia Beach-based Regent University in July 2023, and Peter Blake, SCHEV’s longtime director, stepped down at the end of 2023. Alan Edwards became SCHEV’s interim director in January, while the state council’s board continues its search for a permanent replacement. In Lynchburg, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Dondi E. Costin became Liberty University’s new president, and pastor Jonathan Falwell, one of the sons of Liberty’s late founder, Jerry Falwell Sr., was tapped as chancellor.