UNC-CH is a public university for the people, of the people and by the people. It is the ultimate meritocracy, a beacon of fairness that should level the playing field without consideration for social or financial status.
But a recent report compiled by a group of state officials to the N.C. state legislature contains recommendations to change the standards of who gets aid. This could cost UNC-CH students $2.6 million in state grants for need-based financial aid.
In the upcoming weeks, the Joint Select Committee on State Funded Student Financial Aid in the N.C. General Assembly will decide whether to implement the change.
Even though economic turmoil is threatening the financial security of the UNC system, need-based financial aid must remain among the most protected items in the state’s increasingly tight budget.
If these policies are implemented by the state legislature, they would adversely affect a significant number of UNC-CH students.
The University would have to increase need-based financial aid from its own budget or raise our tuition if it wants to continue to provide financial aid at the current rate.
This cannot stand. We realize that budget cuts make it hard for the state legislature to retain its holistic approach to provide affordable education for its citizens. But by removing the very qualities that make UNC-CH great, we lose that very identity that drives those who care about education.
The state legislature should focus on the collective needs of all students in UNC-system schools instead of focusing solely on redistribution.
Every student that has the grades and the drive to be accepted should be able enroll at UNC-CH, regardless of whether that student has the money to afford it.
This is a University for the people and the state’s policies should reflect that, especially in times as turbulent as these, because the only way we will grow as a University and as a state is if we continue to invest in all students.
