But they say the proposals passed by the UNC-system Board of Governors on Wednesday are unprecedented and might unfairly redistribute UNC-Chapel Hill students' money to other system schools.
The possible tuition plan, passed by the BOG on Wednesday, raises tuition at all 16 campuses by 8 percent for in-state students and by 12 percent for out-of-state students.
The BOG also passed a campus-initiated $300 increase for UNC-CH. The UNC-CH Board of Trustees originally had recommended a $400 increase.
The BOG's proposals must pass the N.C. General Assembly before going into effect.
With the systemwide tuition increase, the campus-based increase and a possible increase of $63.10 in student fees, in-state students could be paying as much as 18 percent more in tuition and fees next year, officials said Thursday.
In-state undergraduate students could pay a total of $549.10 more in tuition and fees. These same proposed increases will raise tuition by 14 percent for out-of-state undergraduates, a total increase of $1,841.10, said Shirley Ort, director of scholarships and student aid.
Ort said the proposed tuition increase will also affect graduate student tuition. In-state graduate students' tuition will increase 17 percent, translating into a $564 increase. Out-of-state graduate students' tuition will raise by 14 percent for a total of $1,902 more than before.
Ort said her office will hold harmless all students qualifying for need-based aid in paying for the $300 tuition increase because 40 percent of the funds will still go to financial aid."We're going to cover all of that campus-based tuition increase, whether it's at the 300 level or whether it would have been at the 400 level," she said.
But Ort said she is less sure that students would not face increased costs as a result of the systemwide increase. Like the $300 campus-initiated increase, money raised from the systemwide increase partly will fund financial aid.
