ISSUED: 2 March 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Shepherd University Board of Governors approved a 3 percent tuition and fees increase for in-state students and a 1 percent increase for out-of-state students for fall semester 2018 during its March 1 meeting.
Tuition for undergraduate in-state residents will increase by $110 per semester (from $3,664 to $3,774) and undergraduate out-of-state tuition will increase by $90 per semester (from $8,936 to $9,026).
In-state graduate tuition will increase by $14 per credit hour (from $445 to $459), and out-of-state graduate tuition will increase by $24 per credit hour (from $636 to $660). The Doctor of Nursing Practice degree will remain at $696 per credit hour without an increase.
A major factor leading to the tuition and fees increase is the decrease in state funding. Since fiscal year 2013, state appropriations to Shepherd have decreased by 16.63 percent ($1.86 million). Additionally, Shepherd is last among its peer state colleges and universities with regard to the amount of state appropriations it receives.
The board also approved a 1.95 percent increase in room rates for Shaw and Thacher halls and a 2 percent increase for Potomac Place. Suite and apartment-style housing rates will not increase. Meal plans will experience an average 0.7 percent rate increase across the four traditional meal plans.
Two new Board of Governors members–Bob Marggraf and David Avella–were given the oath of office by Dr. Marcia Brand, Board of Governors chair.
Marggraf, of Great Cacapon, has more than 20 years of senior level executive responsibility as CEO and COO of a number of companies from start-up organizations to international companies with annual revenues in excess of $200 million. Over his career, Marggraf has raised venture capital in excess of $170 million for a number of start-up companies, led several merger and acquisition transactions, and advised and facilitated merger and acquisition work for a number of clients as an investment banker with the McLean Group.
Marggraf has worked closely with companies in restructuring debt, capital formation, compensation plans, acquisitions, succession planning, organization development, product development, intellectual property protection, and marketing. As a contracted business coach for the West Virginia Small Business Development Center (WVSBDC) under the West Virginia Department of Commerce, he engaged with start-ups as well as established companies in the manufacturing, agricultural, service, recreation, retail, and technology industries. In this capacity he worked to secure financing through conventional debt, convertible debt, and equity investments in excess of $13 million. In 2013, he received an award as the West Virginia State Star and was recognized at the Americas SBDC/SBA National Conference. Since leaving the WVSBDC, Marggraf continues to work with private clients and receives the majority of his clients through referrals.
Marggraf graduated from the University of Alabama as an aerospace engineer and received his business education through the Wharton’s Executive Education Program. He has qualified for Series 7 and Series 63 certification as issued by the National Association of Security Dealers (NASDAQ).
Avella, a Shepherd alumnus and Martinsburg native, is the CEO and chair of GOPAC, an Arlington, Virginia-based national organization formed in 1979 to develop and cultivate rising young leaders in the Republican Party to run for state and local offices. GOPAC’s programs include Conservative Congress Project, Emerging Leaders, and national and state leadership programs.
Avella is a frequent guest on national television and radio, appearing on Fox News, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, PBS, and HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, and he delivered an address at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Avella earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Shepherd in 1992.
In other business, the Board of Governors approved for fall 2018 three new minors (crime and society, geography, and anthropology), two new concentrations (tourism, hospitality, and entrepreneurship and sustainable food production), and two new emphases in the Regents Bachelor of Arts degree (sustainable food production and agricultural entrepreneurship). Two new certificate programs in sustainable food production and agricultural entrepreneurship were approved by the board and require approval from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and the Higher Learning Commission.
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