Tuition autonomy provision omitted from House budget

As UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University continue to grow in size and ability, many legislators are looking to further increase the power of each institution.

A provision in the original Senate version of the state budget would allow both to set their own tuition practices.

But the House budget, which was presented to the Senate last week, excluded tuition autonomy from its plans.

With the voting down of the House budget by the Senate on Monday, the two now bodies will have to work together to achieve a final draft.

The provision would bypass the UNC-system Board of Governors and its ability to oversee the two universities’ tuitions.

Rep. Douglas Yongue, D-Scotland, said tuition should remain the charge of the BOG, not the universities.

“A lot of folks believe in the BOG,” he said. “I don’t think we should start dismantling what has worked in the past.

“From my perspective I don’t see any compromise.”

But Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, said the board is too broad of an institution to adequately handle tuition for every UNC-system school.

“The Board of Governors cannot micromanage 16 campuses,” he said. “It seems to me the decision should be made close to the campus.”

But the BOG’s broad perspective is needed to ensure that universities carry out their mission of serving the state, said Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Haywood.

He added that if awarded autonomy, the universities could be prone to looking out for only their own interests.

“(The BOG) keeps the broader perspective of how each university fits into the state versus a lone-ranger mentality,” Rapp said.

“We need to be thinking always as one North Carolina.”

A change for UNC-CH and NCSU might anger other universities, said Rep. Maggie Jeffus, D-Guilford.

“There was a general feeling that this would set them apart from the 16-member family,” Jeffus said.

But this change could be a great opportunity for the other UNC-system schools, Rand said.

Used as a pilot program, other universities could try to follow the two schools’ lead.

“You’re doing it with research universities first to see if it works,” Rand said.

Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said he thought the provision never should have made it into the budget in the first place. “It should be considered and debated as a separate bill.”

While noting that the legislation could be worthwhile, he said it served as an amendment to the budget rather than for its own merits.

This means the legislation likely won’t receive the attention and discussion that it needs, Berger said. “It’s not good policy for us to take those provisions into the budget.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.