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SOURCE: News and Observer (newsobserver.com)
01.26.07
UNC-CH trustees OK tuition hike
By: Jane Stancill
Tuition at UNC-Chapel Hill is expected to increase $250 for North Carolinians and $1,250 for out-of-state students in the 2007-08 school year.
The university's board of trustees approved the increases Thursday, while more than 150 students stood in protest. The proposal will go to the UNC system's Board of Governors for a final vote in two weeks.
A $250 in-state increase would fall within UNC President Erskine Bowles' 6.5 percent cap on tuition increases for North Carolinians. But the out-of-state proposal prompted passionate speeches by students who say the increase is too steep. A majority of the campus tuition committee had preferred an out-of-state increase of $500.
Trustees have discussed raising out-of-state tuition by $5,000 over four years in an effort to reach the 75th percentile of tuition rates among comparable public universities.
"What a travesty," Jake Fraser, a freshman from Salem, Ore., said as he left the meeting.
The protest was rousing. Students packed the room and cheered when anyone spoke against the increases. One wore a Spider-Man costume. A half-dozen male students wore only bath towels around their waists. They carried signs that said, "Tuition hikes keep me pantless" and "Now Daddy's going to have to sell the farm."
Trustees said the increases are necessary.
"I understand this is not without sacrifice by the out-of-state students, but we are committed to making sure you get the quality of education you came here to get," said Karol Mason, a trustee from Atlanta.
The tuition package will generate $5.9 million for faculty salaries, graduate student stipends and financial aid. The trustees also approved a $500 increase for graduate students and fee increases of $56 for all students.
UNC-CH has become a magnet for top students from outside North Carolina seeking a highly ranked school at a bargain price. Kiplinger's magazine recently rated the university the best value in the United States among public campuses -- for the sixth straight time.
That tradition is in danger, said Student Body President James Allred, the student representative on the board.
"Being the best value in higher education gives us a competitive edge and increases our applicant pool," he said. "If we follow the $1,250 course, we will lose that ranking. I cannot support a decision that will cause Carolina to lose this honor. We do not want to be remembered as the board that sold our reputation as America's best value."
But Trustee Chairman Nelson Schwab pointed out that UNC-CH's tuition the past few years has risen at roughly half the rate that tuition has climbed at 10 similar public universities. UNC-CH's in-state tuition is $2,800 below the average of those schools, and its out-of-state tuition is $4,000 below the average.
That didn't mean much to Anthony Miller, a junior from Houston who is struggling to make it through with loans and a work-study job. He fears he may not be able to graduate from UNC-CH.
"What kind of world do we live in if one cannot afford to be smart, if one cannot afford to be successful, if one cannot afford to get ahead in life?" he said, his voice breaking.
Trustee Paul Fulton of Winston-Salem advocated a $1,500 out-of-state increase, explaining that other universities were raising tuition much faster than UNC-CH. That idea wasn't embraced. And although trustee Stick Williams of Charlotte voted for the $1,250 out-of-state increase, he worried about what he called an "arms race" in tuition in the United States.
"I don't really know where higher education is going," he said.
