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Ways and Means

The following information is provided to help prospective RBS students estimate expenses involved in attending RBS; more comprehensive information will be provided for admitted students in the RBS Travel & Housing Guide. Prospective RBS students are advised not to make travel or hotel reservations until they have been admitted to a course. An explanation of the admissions schedule may be found in the Application Forms section.

RBS Tuition

The tuition for each RBS course currently is $895. Scholarships are available for Rare Book School courses. The deadline for scholarships for the 2009/2010 years (2008 scholarship cycle) occurred on September 1, 2008. Click here to see the 2008 winners.

Air Transportation to Charlottesville

The following information may be of use to you in figuring air transportation costs. The Charlottesville/Albemarle County airport (CHO) is just off Route 29, eight miles north of the University of Virginia. The airport is served by (in decreasing order of utility) US Airways Express, United Express, Colgan (allied with Continental), and Delta Comair. United provides frequent commuter flights between Dulles (IAD) and Charlottesville. There are no flights between Reagan National Airport in downtown Washington DC and Charlottesville. For online information about flights into and out of CHO, consult the airport's Online Flight Guide; information about particular airlines, ground transportation, etc., may be found via the drop-down menu on the left-hand side of each airport web page. Direct flights to Charlottesville are available from Washington DC/Dulles (United Express), Pittsburgh (US Air Express), Charlotte (US Air Express), Baltimore (US Air Express), Cincinnati (Delta Comair), Philadelphia (United), and NYC/LaGuardia (Colgan, US Air Express).

The taxicab fare from CHO to UVa (the same for 1-4 passengers) is about $35, including tip.

Meals

Incoming students and their guests are invited to have dinner at RBS on Sunday night. Dinner is free to RBS students; the cost for guests (who are welcome) is $12/person; information about this dinner is sent with RBS admission letters. There is a considerable variety of restaurants at various price levels within walking distance of the University, as well as on-Grounds food service. A light breakfast is provided in the RBS Pressroom Suite each morning.

Dormitory Housing

During the summer sessions in Charlottesville, Rare Book School's on-campus housing is managed by Conference Services of the UVa Housing Division. Housing requests for the 2009 summer sessionswill be available soon.

If you are attending back-to-back RBS sessions and wish to remain in the same room for the duration of your stay, please call CS at the time of your reservation or you may be required to switch rooms.

Conference Services (CS) will do its best to accommodate last-minute housing requests and changes, but it cannot create space where there isn't any: please let CS know your housing requirements as soon as possible! The deadline for housing requests occurs exactly one month before each session begins; after this time a $50 late fee will be applied to your reservation.

For more information about housing options, consult the Rare Book School Travel & Housing Guide, contained in your admissions packet and distributed to admitted students only.

Hotels

There are several hotels within relatively easy walking distance of the Central Grounds of the University. RBS blocks a number of rooms at special rates at each of these hotels (with the exception of the Econo Lodge): Cavalier Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Econo Lodge (though VERY basic and an uncomfortable walk after dark), and Courtyard Marriott. The tax rate is 10.5%. Please mention "Rare Book School at UVA" when you call to make your reservation. Ask about other discounts. For example: AAA rate (if you are a member) or the government rate (if you are employed by a federal agency) to compare prices. These rates may be lower! Also be advised that each hotel has a deadline for obtaining the RBS rate so please make your reservation as soon as possible.

The best hotels in Charlottesville are generally thought to be the Boar's Head Inn (trendy) and the downtown Omni Hotel (all business but also anchors one end of Charlottesville's historic downtown area), each about a mile and a half from the Central Grounds of the University. There are many other hotels and motels in Charlottesville, including the usual assortment of national chains, as well as an interesting variety of country inns and bed-and-breakfast places (many of them written up in national and regional back roads-and-country-inn guidebooks and suchlike). The walking-distance Dinsmore House Inn will offer a discounted rate to RBS students.

Area Booksellers

Charlottesville has more used and rare bookshops than any other city in Virginia. As a courtesy, Rare Book School publishes a guide to area booksellers, Antiquarian Bookhunting in Charlottesville. Feel free to download and print copies of your own!