Finance and BudgetUnderstanding VCU’s Finances

Student Financial Assistance

Student financial assistance is money given to students to pay for college from a variety of sources. These includes Pell, Work Study, tuition waivers, and need based and merit-based aid awarded to VCU students. In FY23, VCU has committed funding for need-based aid, merit-based aid, scholarships, fellowships, tuition waivers, and graduate student waivers.

• $87.1M in Federal and State support
• Other federal funds support Pell and work-study with an $11.3M increase in State funding 
• $73.2M institutional funding
• $31.1M in institutional funding for undergraduates, non-residents and military waivers
• $16.4M athletics & Other
• $11.8M university support

Notes:

• The summary of all funds only reflects federal and state support. 
  
• These funds are earmarked for student financial assistance, and cannot be used elsewhere. 

Providing Financial Aid

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia reported:

• Of the students who presented with financial need in 2020-2021, 66% had family contributions under $7,500 toward college and living expenses¹.
• In the Fall of 2020, 52% of VCU’s undergraduate residents borrowed money for their education¹.
• Of the resident students listed with financial needs in 2020-2021, 42.2% fell under the lower income poverty level range (defined as 0-200% of the federal poverty level)¹.

These points show that VCU students have limited familial support and many are living under the federal poverty line. Without being creative with support and aid, many students would not complete their degrees.

^{1 – Source https://research.schev.edu/info/Reports.Guide-to-the-Financial-Aid-Reports, reports FA01, FA16, and FA33}