The Facts: North Carolina allows full scholarships of out-of-state students to be paid at in-state rates. This allows organizations that sponsor these scholarships to help the maximum number of students and reach the nation’s best talent. A bill under consideration in the legislature would overturn this policy.
Our Opinion: The current law enables the maximum number of talented students to attend the University while making it economically viable for the institutions that support those students. Overturning the policy would cause undue pressure on the already stressed scholarship programs in the state.
The General Assembly is debating legislation that would severely impact the number of scholarships offered to N.C. State students.
The bill as it stands now would prohibit out-of-state students from receiving in-state tuition rates on full scholarships.
This change would cause detrimental effects to many of NCSU’s scholarship-granting bodies in addition to the University’s merit and need-based scholarships.
Athletic programs, foundations and universities throughout the UNC System would suddenly lose their ability to offer the sorts of scholarships that make the system capable of attracting the best talent in the world.
Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, a Democrat who opposes the change, said that the bill would put a lot of pressure on athletics departments at smaller schools and on foundations such as the Rams Club at Chapel Hill and the Wolfpack Club at NCSU.
The Wolfpack Club alone would be burdened with a staggering $1.4 million a year in additional scholarship funding requirements of the legislation passes.
Rand took the bill to task on athletic scholarships, asking, “How much was Mia Hamm worth to Chapel Hill?”
The legislation would greatly detract from some of the state’s schools ability to provide competitive scholarships that attract the best athletic talent.
The budget provision, intended to save the state an estimated $13.9 million, is severely off-target. Instead of saving the state a little money it will only serve to limit the talent that comes into its universities.
The foundation funding into prestigious state scholarships such as the Morehead-Cain and Park Scholarships will be severely thinned.
Eva Maria Holcomb, director of the Park Scholarship program, indicated that her program could see a 20-percent – or greater – decrease in scholarships offered as a direct result of the legislation.
NCSU will definitely feel the shockwaves from this legislation, but smaller universities within the UNC system will be hit even more dramatically. Many of those schools will no longer be financially able to support out-of-state students.
The planned budget cuts of 9 to 14 percent will already impact the number and magnitude of scholarships the universities of the UNC system can offer. To further hinder their efforts in providing affordable education to all students would be regrettable and indicate extreme narrow-mindedness in the budget reduction efforts by state lawmakers.
Higher education is one of the most proven pathways to success for the future of the country and this state – hopefully the General Assembly will act prudently and show that North Carolina is a beacon of this future.
