Tuition increases intensify personal struggles

Lindsey Ragsdale measures everything she buys by the hours she will have to work to pay for it.

She worries about tuition increases because she finances her education with four federal loans, a private loan and a part-time job.

“It is such a mental sacrifice,” she said. “The last couple of years, I have only been thinking about how much money is in my accounts or how much I need for bills. I worry about it all the time.”

Administrators will discuss next year’s tuition increases at a tuition and fee advisory task force meeting today. A proposed increase of $1,126.68 for out-of-state undergraduate students will be considered.

In-state tuition will increase by no more than the $200 mandated by N.C. law.

For Ragsdale, an out-of-state sophomore from Leesburg, Va., the increase would mean another job and another federal loan. And no more groceries like the cookies or chips that amount to a half hour of work either.

“I understand the hike because the economy sucks right now,” she said. “It just isn’t fair to put the whole burden on out-of-state students by jacking up the tuition.”

Interim Provost Bruce Carney said once the task force has made up its mind and makes a presentation to the chancellor and UNC Board of Trustees, he predicts the tuition increase to go through smoothly. He also said it would likely reach N.C. legislature by spring.

Carney said the increases would go toward scholarships, student aid, the tuition remission budget and new faculty hires.

Ryan Morgan, the president of the Out-of-state Student Association, said they are not against tuition increases, but are against the unpredictability of it.

He said he will attend the task force with other OSSA members to make a presence and to get out-of-state students’ voices heard.

“Wouldn’t you be pissed if you thought you would have to pay one amount and then it went up a thousand dollars?” he said.

Shirley Ort, associate provost and director of scholarships and student aid, said non-resident students who are qualified for need would receive an additional tuition grant equal to the amount of the added tuition.

Yet Ragsdale still has concerns because of her financial situation.

Her parents paid for some of her freshman year, but she still racked up thousands of dollars in debt. She took the next year off, working full-time to pay it off.

Now she finances everything without aid from her parents.

“She has a mission and she will complete it regardless of tuition increases or not,” said Ragsdale’s mother Dorothea.

Ragsdale works for an event planner which sometimes requires up to 30 hours of work per week.

“When I have free time, I have to be mindful not to goof off,” she said.

When she heard of the potential tuition hikes, she had just found out her rent will increase next year, too — something she also finances on her own.

“My private loan has a set amount I can dig into, and I’ve already used a sizable chunk,” she said. “I could borrow more from that but I worry about long-term paying it off.”

Ragsdale said she will have to pay $200 a month for at least 10 years after graduation to settle the four federal Stafford loans she uses to finance school.

She wants to go to Japan to teach English after graduation but is now rethinking those plans.

“I have to grow up a little bit faster,” she said. “I can’t just go willy-nilly and travel everywhere.”

Still, she said she doesn’t regret choosing a more expensive out-of-state university.

“It is worth the thousands of dollars of debt. I wouldn’t consider going anywhere else.”



Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.