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Daily Tar Heel > Opinion > Letters to the Editor

Pay-by-the-hour tuition system isn’t smart or fair

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Published: Sunday, November 30, 2008

Updated: Sunday, November 30, 2008

TO THE EDITOR:

The General Administration’s idea to change tuition payment at UNC-Chapel Hill to a by-hour system is against the spirit of this University.

Tuition payment by credit hour is akin to a factory-style university education where students are churned out after having taken precisely enough hours to fulfill requirements and enter the workforce. One of the greatest advantages of a true liberal arts education is the opportunity to explore outside of the graduation requirements and investigate other things that interest you.

UNC claims to foster a community where intellectual growth and academic creativity is important. To even consider changing tuition payment to a by-hour system is tantamount to denying the importance of anything more than career training at this University.



Maggie Zhou

Sophomore

Computer Science

Comments

2 comments
w .
Mon Dec 1 2008 14:31
Amen.

Changing majors gets more expensive, and students with credit hours from AP classes are discouraged from taking as many classes. The undergraduate experience is NOT about getting out with a degree as efficiently as possible, and creating financial barriers for intellectual exploration at that level seems absolutely counter to the mission of a liberal arts education. I understand that it's different with graduate students, who are enrolled for a much more specific purpose, but it makes no sense for undergrads.

Also, registration is asinine enough without the need of an accountant sitting next to you while you hit "Refresh" fifty-leven times.

William Schlieper
Mon Dec 1 2008 04:21
Pay-by-hour tuition, by its very nature, will decrease the number of hours students take, on average. Do we want to do this?

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