In-state undergraduate students at West Virginia's public higher education institutions won't see any tuition increases for the 2010-2011 academic year.
All the state's four-year and two-year public schools have heeded Gov. Joe Manchin's call for a one-year freeze on in-state tuition and mandatory fees. Some schools also froze out-of-state tuition.
The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission is expected to approve the freezes for all colleges and universities except West Virginia and Marshall at a meeting Wednesday.
West Virginia and Marshall set their own tuition and fees. Each university's board has approved freezing in-state rates.
Last month, the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education approved tuition freezes for public community and technical colleges.
Manchin had called for a one-year freeze on tuition and fees in his State of the State address in January, saying accessible college education is critical for West Virginia's future. He followed up in February with a letter to the schools' governing boards urging them to adopt a freeze. The letter said schools should examine their finances, eliminate redundancies and find ways to operate more efficiently.
"We listened to Gov. Joe Manchin's very passionate request for public colleges and universities to do what we could to cap tuition for in-state students to keep college affordable in these tough economic times," WVU Board of Governors chairwoman Carolyn Long said last week after the board voted to freeze in-state tuition and mandatory fees.
