Both the University of Vermont and Middlebury College have new presidents: Marlene Tromp at UVM and Ian Baucom at Middlebury. These new leaders entered their role at a time of heightened federal scrutiny on higher education.
On Friday, UVM’s Board of Trustees approved a tuition hike, raising in-state tuition by 2% to nearly $17,000. Out-of-state tuition will increase by 4.5% to more than $46,000. These rates do not include room and board.
Tromp met with the board for the first time on Friday and said that UVM has been hit hard with inflation.
"We need to cover those inflationary costs, and that's very difficult to do in an environment where you hold tuition flat, because our costs are not stable," Tromp said.
Federal funding is another concern for higher education nationwide. The White House has threatened to take away federal funding from colleges and universities if they don’t fall in line around DEI and other issues. Both presidents weigh in on that delicate balance between protecting free speech and following White House dictum.
Middlebury was one of 60 U.S. colleges and universities to get a letter from the U.S. Department of Education in March. The letters warned of "potential enforcement actions" if the schools didn't address concerns about antisemitism.
Baucom said said he and other Vermont higher education leaders are united in their commitment to free expression.
"We have the good fortune, the amazing good fortune together of being not only in agreement at the administrative level, at the faculty level, at the student level, but with our fellow citizens of Vermont and across the state, that Vermont itself will be a beacon for freedom of thought, and that will absolutely be the case at Middlebury," Baucom said.
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