The Higher Education Subcommittee of Appropriations unanimously advanced HB 414, removing Virginia's outdated Selective Service requirement for state financial aid eligibility, then received a sweeping briefing from House Appropriations staff warning that the introduced budget funds only about 25% of the $100 million higher education investment the House approved in 2025, while flagging mounting concerns about tuition growth, financial aid sustainability, and college athletics subsidies.
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Delegate Reed questioned why student fees were still increasing given growth in NIL, TV revenue, and the NCAA settlement, calling it 'somewhat counterintuitive.' Tony Maggio responded that conference revenue distribution is highly unequal — SEC institutions each receive $40–$50 million while the entirety of the Sunbelt conference receives $40–$50 million total — and described the current environment as 'the Wild west right now. It's just not really regulated very well.'
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“We are harming male students who live under poverty who are looking for aid. If they don't fill out this form in a timely manner, what happens is they won't be eligible to get this Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant, and then they will be curved to go to private loans.”
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Sign in to subscribeMeeting of the Higher Education Subcommittee of Appropriations will come to order. I think our first order of business is to introduce our new members and have them introduce themselves, and then everybody else on the committee say so. So if we'll start down at the end. Thank you, Madam Chair. My name is Delegate Amy Lawfer, and I represent the 55th district, which is parts of Albemarle, Nelson, Louisa, and a tiny sliver of Fluvanna. Thank you. Good morning. Delegate Josh Thomas of the 21st District, representing Western Prince William County. Good morning. Alex Askew, delegate from the 95th district. I represent western Virginia beach in eastern Norfolk. Good morning, Madam Chair. And good morning, everyone. I'm Delegate David Reed. I represent House District 28, which is in the eastern portion of Loudoun County. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I'm Delegate Terry Austin. I represent the 37th House District as western part of the state. And I'm Delegate Betsy Carr. I have the privilege of representing the 78th district, which is a portion of Richmond also. We'll be hearing from our analyst, Tony Maggio, and we start out with your introduction first. Good morning, Madam Chair. I'm Tony Maggio,…
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