Graduate students divided on tuition

Graduate students can’t come to a consensus on whether to place a higher financial burden on out-of-state students to help the University cope with significant budget shortfalls.

The Graduate and Professional Student Federation Senate split its votes in support of equal increases for all graduate students and further raising the cost for out-of-state students at its Thursday meeting.

Keith Lee, president of the GPSF, was seeking input from the Senate to decide what he should push for as a voting member of the tuition and fees advisory task force.

The task force, a group of students, faculty members and administrators who set tuition policy, will make a recommendation for the chancellor at its next meeting Nov. 11 regarding tuition increases for the 2010-11 school year.

The figure would then have to be approved by the Board of Trustees, the UNC-system Board of Governors and the N.C. General Assembly.

The task force is currently weighing two options: one that spreads the cost equally and one that puts a larger hike on out-of-state students.

In-state tuition increases for both graduate and undergraduate students are capped by state law at 5.2 percent, but out-of-state students do not face a similar restriction.

Some graduate students said they supported an increase of equal monetary value for all students, while others were in favor of increasing out-of-state tuition at a greater rate.

But Lee said he thinks graduate students will support one another in funding tuition increases, no matter which group of students takes a greater burden.

“There’s a lot of solidarity,” he said.

About 24 percent of graduate students are not N.C. residents, although many out-of-state graduate students receive tuition remission, funding that covers the difference between in-state and out-of- state costs.

Lee said a large number of graduate students also have the opportunity to pay in-state tuition by applying for residency, decreasing their cost of attendance.

While the impact of tuition increases on graduate students might be less because of funding subsidies, the burden will be shifted to departments that must cover these costs, Lee said.

“The change in funding can affect the caliber of students admitted,” he said, adding that resources might be shifted away from research support for these students.

Serena Witzke, a third-year Ph.D. student in the classics department, said she applied for in-state tuition after two years of attending the University.

She said she supports equal tuition increases for in-state and out-of-state students as the most fair manner of meeting UNC’s financial needs for the next year.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.