The UNC Board of Governors met on Friday and approved a tuition and fee increase for NC public universities for the 2009-10 school year. In-state tuition will increase an average of 3.9% across North Carolina.
The BOG approved the plan proposed by Erskine Bowles, President of the UNC System, in January. In his memo, Bowles requested that tuition and fee increases requested by university chancellors be reduced by 33%.
“The unprecedented scope of this recession and its growing impact on North Carolina families mandate a different approach, both in terms of the amount of increase and the use of funds,” said Bowles.
The 3.6% tuition increase proposed by NC State in October was cut to 2.4%. In-state undergraduates can now expect to pay $3,953 in tuition next year, an increase of $93 from this year.
All but two of the board’s 32 members voted for the increase. Greg Doucette, member Ex Officio of the BOG, said there was an overall consensus that tuition had to be increased to maintain the quality of education in light of recent budget cuts.
In addition, if the BOG did not raise tuition, the state legislature most likely would, said Doucette. Revenue generated by the legislature is considered state-generated revenue, and can thus be allocated as the state sees fit.
“This way, the money stays on our campuses,” said Doucette.
The two dissenting members, Steve Bowden and Gladys Robinson, have expressed opposition since the beginning due to the strain that any tuition increases would represent for families, says Doucette.
The plan must still be approved by the NC General Assembly before it goes into effect. The NCGA may further increase tuition and fees if additional revenue is needed.
“It’s definitely a risk and legislative leaders have talked about it,” said Doucette of a further increase.
Some BOG members supported the tuition increases originally proposed by university chancellors. They believed that tuition increases adhering to the 6.5% tuition increase cap mandated by the BOG should have been accepted, according to Doucette.
Both Doucette and Chancellor James Oblinger said the Board’s decision was well-researched and very carefully made.
“The whole process has been very slow [and] very deliberative,” Doucette said.
Oblinger said the BOG put a huge effort into the decision and fought through dissent to arrive at what it felt was the best decision for students and the UNC System.
“They weren’t together at the start,” Oblinger said. “The Board really struggled with this decision.”
“The Board has worked as hard on this subject as they have on anything else.”
Doucette said the real issue was the general assembly, since it could spurn the BOG’s requests and raise tuition rates even higher.
“The bigger question is whether we’ll be able to stop the general assembly from overriding this decision and raising tuition rates even more,” Doucette said.
Oblinger also commended UNC President Erskine Bowles for his leadership in the face of economic adversity as he moved to cap tuition increases to keep costs low.
“The president was trying to show the population of North Carolina [that] there was some empathy to their plight,” Oblinger said. “We’re going to do everything we can to avoid sacrificing quality.”
Oblinger stressed the importance of maintaining the UNC System’s prominence despite cut-backs.
“You can provide access, you can make it affordable, but if the quality isn’t there, what good does it do the student?” Oblinger said.
One of the ways the University plans to maintain quality is in the way the new increases are divided.
Oblinger said 25 percent of the tuition increases typically goes to financial aid while another quarter goes toward employee salaries, but this year’s increases will have different requirements. 40 percent of the increase must go to financial aid, though Oblinger said the University originally planned to earmark 60 percent of the increase toward financial aid.
“And we’ll maintain that 60 percent,” Oblinger said. “The other 40 percent is to be used by the Chancellor to maintain quality – and that shows up in lots of different ways.”
The Chancellor said much of the remaining funds after financial aid will be allocated to colleges so course offerings won’t have to be cut so deeply.
“We don’t want to dramatically slow down graduation, but we know from several of the colleges that the only thing they have to cut is to offer fewer courses or fewer sections,” Oblinger said.
But Oblinger added that the decisions were not being made haphazardly, and that he, the president and the BOG would need to approve anything.
“The bottom line is, I have to approve it, I have to get the president’s approval and he reports it to the board,” Oblinger said. “So there aren’t just checks and balances, there are double and triple checks and balances.”
The next meeting of the BOG is scheduled for Friday, March 20 at the Spangler Center.
