Tuition plans hiked again

Campus officials are considering raising out-of-state undergraduate tuition by $1,414.30, the third in a series of continuously higher tuition proposals.

The figure is close to $300 higher than the last proposal.

Administrators are considering a similar increase of $1,288 on out-of-state graduate students, almost doubling an earlier proposal.

The out-of-state student tuition increase of 6.2 percent — an increase from previous talks — would provide about $6.1 million the University intends to use to help pay for student aid and faculty salaries.

But it would mean a larger percentage increase for out-of-state students than the 5.2 percent increase for in-state students, which some call an unfair burden.

Out-of-state students have historically opposed such increases, which Student Body Vice President David Bevevino articulated Friday at the tuition and fees advisory task force’s meeting.

“One thing we hear a lot from out-of-state students is that you’re a Carolina student no matter where you come from, and putting the out-of-state increase as high as you can go to meet needs is something that makes a significant portion feel like they are being targeted to care for the University,” he said.

UNC can’t increase in-state tuition next year by more than $200, a number mandated by the state legislature. So the University is looking to use additional money from out-of-state students to bridge the shortfall.

The task force — the group of students and administrators who develop tuition policy — previously considered a smaller increase of 5.2 percent for out-of-state students. But members worried the smaller increase would leave them unable to fully pay for priorities such as financial aid and faculty salaries.

The task force has not voted on the final recommendation to send to the chancellor, but both Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bruce Carney and Board of Trustees member Roger Perry expressed tentative support for a 6.5 percent increase for non-residents.

For the 2010-11 school year, the University will struggle to balance funding for need-based aid, graduate awards, faculty retention and student services, the four funding priorities supported by tuition.

“This is why in the past week, I’ve begun to give some consideration to why (the larger increase) might be necessary to help keep us on track,” Carney said.

The Office of Scholarships and Student Aid will need a minimum of $3.8 million to fund need-based aid for the coming year, Carney said.

The percentage of students qualifying for financial aid rose 23 percent this year, and that figure is expected to increase. Fifty percent of 2010-11 tuition revenues will go to need-based aid next year.

Under the smaller tuition increase, the University would fall far short of the $3.8 million projection. The 6.5 percent increase would come closer to meeting that target, generating $3 million.

Carney said the higher increase would generate another $1.5 million to retain faculty members who are offered more lucrative positions at other schools.

Carney said he hopes the committee will make a recommendation for the chancellor at its next meeting on Nov. 11.

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


Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.