RBS Program Costs, Travel, and Lodging

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. The admissions schedule may be found beneath the RBS Course Schedule.

RBS Tuition

The tuition for each RBS course currently is $845.

Scholarships for RBS courses are available; the deadline for scholarship applications for each year is October 1st of the year before.

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) USAirways 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, &c., 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 (USAir Express), Charlotte (USAir Express), Baltimore (USAir Express), Cincinnati (Delta Comair), Philadelphia (United), and NYC/LaGuardia (Colgan, USAir Express).

The taxicab fare from CHO to UVa (the same for 1-4 passengers) is about $30, 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

In May, June, July, and August, we offer on-grounds dormitory housing, either in Brown College (currently $26.50/night per shared double room, $40.50/night per single room) or on the Lawn (currently $31/night). Dormitory housing is not available in January or March, when the University is in term.

Both Brown College on Monroe Hill and the Lawn are within easy walking distance of Alderman Library, and both are equipped with telephones in every room. Rooms in Brown College are modern and air-conditioned. Rooms on the East and West Lawn are so fraught with tradition that you may well decide to live here -- despite certain primitive aspects described in the RBS Travel and Housing Guide sent to all admitted students. All linens are provided for both options (sheets changed weekly; towels daily). You may use this housing for as many days as you like (irrespective of your actual dates of attending RBS classes). We can also provide accommodations for a spouse, friend, or well-behaved older children, either in Brown College or on the Lawn. You may check in anytime after 2 pm on the day you arrive; check-out time is by 11 am on the day you leave.

Housing for RBS will as usual be handled directly by UVa's Conference Services, conveniently located in Kent House and open 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.

Requests for dormitory housing must be made on the RBS Housing Request Form, a copy of which is sent to all students with their admissions letter, mailed out three months before courses begin.

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 EconoLodge): Best Western 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." (This file is in .pdf format, and requires a copy of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.) Feel free to download and print copies of your own!

RBS Home