NCSU, Other Campuses to Consider Hikes

N.C. State's announcement came only one day after UNC-CH's Task Force on Tuition nailed down a one-year, $400 proposal for a campus-initiated tuition increase.

Tom Stafford, N.C. State University vice chancellor for student affairs, said N.C. State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox intends to present a proposal for a tuition increase at the N.C. State Board of Trustees' meetings Feb. 21 and 22.

"We have had discussions about this as you might imagine," he said. "We will probably finalize (a proposal) within the next few weeks."

Stafford said N.C. State officials have been keeping tabs on the tuition discussions at UNC-CH but will tailor a proposal to fit their university's needs and not merely follow UNC-CH's example.

"We've also had interest in (tuition increases) but have taken a different approach," he said. Stafford would not disclose specifics of the tuition increase that N.C. State officials are considering.

But he said administrators will keep tuition rates at other UNC-system schools in mind as they draft their proposal.

"We wouldn't want to be out of line," Stafford said. He expressed some concern that raising N.C. State's tuition might further the image that the university is attempting to cut ties with the UNC system -- an accusation sometimes levelled against UNC-CH as well.

Stafford said the UNC-system Board of Governors will have the final say in any campus-initiated tuition increases, which the board is set to consider at its March meeting. He said he thinks the system's two flagship universities -- UNC-CH and N.C. State -- will receive equal treatment from the BOG. The BOG approved identical two-year tuition increases -- totaling $600 -- for UNC-CH and N.C. State in February 2000.

"I don't think the BOG will do one thing for (N.C.) State and another for Carolina," Stafford said.

But Addison Bell, BOG Budget and Finance Committee chairman, said the board will judge each campus proposal on the basis of merit.

"While I think that Chapel Hill does set a trend for some schools, I am confident the BOG will examine the proposals on an individual basis," Bell said.

He said he thinks N.C. State would definitely follow UNC-CH's lead and that other UNC-system schools might as well.

Bell said it would be appropriate for some schools in the UNC-system to propose tuition increases similar to that being discussed at UNC-CH.

"I think it's not a bad thing because some of the issues are in common, especially considering faculty salaries," he said.

Andrew Payne, UNC-system Association of Student Governments president and a nonvoting student member of the BOG, said he does not support further increases at UNC-system schools that have already implemented campus-initiated tuition hikes.

"The reason I don't support it is I don't think the Board of Governors has clearly defined a viable tuition policy," he said.

The BOG will re-examine its tuition policy in the coming months and has asked all 16 UNC-system campuses to create nonbinding, five-year tuition plans, starting with the 2003-04 academic year.

In the meantime, the board has decided to entertain proposals for one-year tuition hikes. At least one other UNC-system school -- UNC-Greensboro -- also plans to ask the BOG to approve a tuition hike. UNC-G Chancellor Patricia Sullivan said she was hesitant about pursuing campus-initiated tuition increases at first, worrying that it might exclude low-income students.

But Sullivan said recent information on the success of financial aid programs at UNC-system schools has eased some of her concerns. "I've not been a person that was in favor of (the campus-initiated tuition) approach," she said. "But now that we have it, we'll take advantage of it."

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