2 Schools Plan to Up Tuition

The boards of trustees at UNC-Pembroke and Appalachian State University recently recommended tuition increases for the next two school years, prompting mixed reaction from campus leaders.

The proposals, approved Friday, would increase tuition $300 at ASU and $160 at UNC-P. Both increases would be phased in over two years and would fund faculty salary increases and financial aid.

Carmelita Spicer, N.C. Central University's public relations director, said the university also is considering an increase.

All campus-initiated tuition proposals are due to the UNC-system General Administration later this month. The Board of Governors will make the final decision on the proposals in March. Last month, the BOG recommended a 4 percent systemwide tuition increase to offset the system's rising operating costs.

The two increases come in the wake of a Nov. 16 UNC-Greensboro board vote to increase tuition by $300 over the next two years, also aimed at funding faculty salaries and student aid.

Bob Shaffer, ASU associate vice chancellor for public affairs, said university officials have been hesitant to raise tuition but have come to realize that it is a necessary evil.

Shaffer said money generated from the increase was needed to help ASU compete with other system schools in faculty recruitment and retention.

The BOG approved tuition increases at five system schools, including UNC-Chapel Hill, last year. The majority of the revenue from the increases was used to fund faculty salary increases.

But ASU Student Body President Ryan Bolick said he does not believe a tuition increase is the best way to combat the faculty pay issue. Bolick said it is the state's responsibility to fund salaries.

Bolick said an online survey of the student body conducted by student government indicated students were not necessarily opposed to a tuition increase. Of 623 students surveyed, 43 percent opposed a tuition increase - a sharp contrast to the student-led uproar last year's increases generated.

Officials at UNC-P claim that students support the tuition increase there as well. UNC-P Board of Trustees Chairman Roger Oxedine also said the increase will help the school's financial aid and faculty compensation programs compete with the rest of the system.

The $160 increase approved at the meeting was only half of the amount university officials requested, Oxedine said. He said only one board member voted against the increase, for fear that it might deter poorer students from the school.

UNC Association of Student Government President Andrew Payne said the UNC-P and ASU increases are reactions to last year's increases at UNC-CH and N.C. State University.

The ASG met in Greensboro on Saturday to discuss how it will respond to the possible tuition increases. Payne said he will encourage ASG members to lobby the BOG to change its policy that gives individual system schools the latitude to recommend tuition increases.

But Payne said it might be difficult to rally support from fellow ASG members this year because many favor the tuition increase proposals.

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.