The cost of fees and tuition at UVa over the last 10 years tuition and mandatory fees for in-state students have gone up from $7,845 to $15,714 between 2006-2007 and 2016-2017. This of course does not account for rising costs of housing, dining, and other associated costs with attending the university that have also risen during this period. It also offers a generous view of costs at UVa because it excludes the out-of-state students’ costs, which increased by nearly 20,000 from 2007-2017. While tuition and housing have become more expensive, the UVa endowment has grown from 4.2 billion in October 2008 to 9.5 billion in September 2018. This is also a generous reading of the growth of UVa’s wealth considering it doesn’t factor in gains made between 2018-2019, and doesn’t factor in the reported 2.75 billion dollars that UV.a collected as part of a recent fundraising drive.

The University grows richer and richer off of the higher costs levied on its students, it’s time to end this. We demands that the costs of tuition, fees, on-grounds housing, meal plans, and all fees associated with attending UVa freeze for a minimum of one year. Put simply, the cost of attending UVa in the school year 2020-2021 should be the same as that of 2019-2020. We demand this apply to all students at the university: in-state, out-of-state, undergraduate and graduate, regardless of immigration status or country of origin. We seek to pay not 1 dollar more for the same services year after year.

Additionally, we demand the expansion of on-grounds housing at an affordable, and below market-rate price. UVa has contributed to a housing crisis in Charlottesville, it is clear that so long as students occupy more and more units, this crisis will only be exacerbate and further displace working-class Charlottesville community members. We need more affordable student housing but as of right now the planned goal of having all second-years live on-grounds is neither a good nor a bad goal; what will determine that is how it is implemented. For example, if all second-years live on grounds but the cost of living remains incredibly high, then working-class students are left out. We demand that current and new housing costs be set below the market rate, and remain affordable to students.

While cost increases are not the only issue at UVa. -- far from it given the historic and current exploitation of workers and uneven relationship with the community -- it is clear that the greed of the university must end.