Leaders explain tuition

Student government leaders are down to the wire in their efforts to mobilize students to be proactive about increases to campus-based tuition and student fees.

“It took us a semester to wrap our mind around the tuition issue,” said Matt Calabria, student body president. “It’s a very, very complex situation.”

Calabria and Alexa Kleysteuber, student body vice president, presented a forum on the setting for tuition and fees for the 2005-06 academic year Monday night.

Aside from informing the dozens of graduate, undergraduates, in-state and out-of-state students in attendance, Calabria and Kleysteuber hoped to garner student feedback that will serve as ammunition at the Board of Trustees meetings this week.

Of three possible tuition combinations, the option promoting a $250 increase for in-state students and a $1,200 increase for out-of-state students — the greatest disparity — is the choice Chancellor James Moeser intends to endorse for the board, Calabria said.

“I don’t know where you draw the line,” said Jake Parton, a freshman economics major from Tallahassee, Fla. “There’s a disparity between in-state and out-of-state------ — it’s just a slap in the face.”

Once the flood gates were opened, the emotions continued to flow.

“I had a seventh grade history teacher who said, ‘Don’t monkey with the middle class,’ and that’s exactly what’s going on here,” said Renan Snowden, a senior political science major from Washington, D.C. “For a University of the people, I feel like we have nothing to offer.”

In a quick response, Jerry Lucido, vice provost for enrollment management, noted that no state in the country can afford its higher education system.

“I won’t make you feel better about writing that check, but I don’t want to equate a couple of numbers on the board to your personal value,” Lucido said.

The term “value” held strong connotations for many out-of-state students, as they related, in varying degrees, the premier value of a UNC education that drew them to the school in the first place.

A willingness to sacrifice more monetarily than in-state students is a consideration that many non-residents hope Calabria keeps in mind when he will endorse, before the Board of Trustees, a $350 tuition increase for in-state students and a $800 increase for out-of-state students — the option with the smallest margin between residents and nonresidents.

The elasticity study completed earlier this year quantifies market receptivity to University initiatives and sensitivity to changes in tuition costs. Emerging from the study was a strong commitment to balancing public policy.

“For in-state students, we have to be as inexpensive as we can be without sacrificing quality of education,” Lucido said. “For out-of-state students, we want to deliver value, but we’re also one of the best.”

While UNC has raised its in-state tuition at a rate that is lower in comparison to state competitors and still has a long way to go before price becomes an issue for in-state students, the fate of nonresidents is not so secure, Lucido said.

In his closing remarks, Calabria emphasized the importance of student presence at the upcoming trustee meetings.

“What I say, which will be reflected by the tenor of what you said here, is amplified by the people that are there.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.