State decides tuition hikes

Administrators said the maximum $750 tuition increase approved last week was necessary to sustain the level of quality education that the University offers.

Since UNC-Chapel Hill is one of the system’s larger schools, it was dealt a large percentage of this year’s $70 million in system cuts that total $575 million in the last three years.

Administrators were left to decide how to generate funding without cutting into academics.

When the N.C. General Assembly allowed schools to raise tuition as part of the budget, UNC-CH realized that only the maximum tuition hike could help keep class sizes down and avoid cutting courses.

“We and N.C. State have the largest budgets. When there’s a cut to the system, we have the largest cut, and the purpose of the $750 was to give us the ability to make up for the cut,” said UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp. “Even with the full $750 dollars, neither Carolina or N.C. state was able to make up their full cut. there’s still $4 million missing that isn’t made up for with the $750.”

All UNC students will have their tuition increased by $750 this fall, in addition to $200 in hikes approved by the Board of Trustees last fall.

Since cuts were so large and tuition was mandated by the legislature rather than suggested by the campuses, the typical tuition approval process was bypassed.

Usually, the tuition and fee advisory task force, made up of students, faculty and administrators, meets at the beginning of the fall semester to make recommendations to the chancellor, who then presents his proposal to the Board of Trustees. The approval process continues to the Board of Governors and then to the General Assembly.

“That process wasn’t followed this year because the legislature realized how deep the cuts were going to be,” Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bruce Carney said.

This isn’t the first time the legislature has passed a seemingly last-minute tuition increase. In 2001, it approved a 9 percent tuition hike two weeks into the fall semester.

Students weren’t able to provide input this summer because the Board of Governors asked schools for their individual tuition hikes less than a week after the state budget was approved.

“Student government really did not have an opportunity to weigh in on this, we realize that,” Thorp said. “And I feel bad for Hogan (Medlin) if there are people thinking he should have done something to stop this. This was a product of state politics.”

Medlin, student body president, said that he anticipates future cuts and that the tuition process must be re-evaluated to ensure that student input doesn’t get bypassed again.

“I hate playing the catch-up game,” Medlin said. “Now we have to say to students when they get back, ‘Here’s what happened while you were gone, and here’s what you will have to pay.’”

Many students were understanding, Medlin said, but some are concerned about setting a precedent for using students as a source of revenue to fill budget gaps. He said he would present these concerns at the Board of Trustees meeting this week.

“While many students understand the need for the increase, Trustees need to realize the need for more outside funding to help with the cuts we are facing,” Medlin said.

Rising junior Susannah Thomas said she was shocked when she heard about the $950 tuition hike.

“I think any student who didn’t think a tuition increase would happen must be living under a rock,” Thomas said. “But they could have found other places to cut from.”

Rising junior David Ingraham said he was annoyed by the rapid approval process but understood that UNC faced large cuts.

“I saw it in the newspaper and was kind of blindsided,” Ingraham said. “I support it because I think the University will spend the money wisely. Hopefully they use the money to help the University help the students.”

He said he will most likely need to take out a new loan to help pay for the increase and is still waiting for his financial aid application to be approved.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.