The academic year 2013-14 has witnessed a dramatic slowdown compared to the growth rate of in-state tuition across the nation during the past five years. In-state tuition at public four-year colleges averaged $8,900 for the 2013-14 academic year, a small hike of just 2.9 percent compared to last academic year, according to the College Board.
In-state tuition has been rising since 2000, when state legislatures started cutting taxpayers’ support for colleges. The skyrocketing tuition reached its peak in the 2011–12 academic year, offsetting the impact of recession-led budget cutting at the expense of higher burden for residents. Yet, starting from 2012, the spiral growth has lost its sting. The booming of the economies in some states is fueling the tax revenue and restoring state governments’ ability to increase funding for higher education.
In North Carolina, the state government has continued to reduce the funding of higher education, forcing public universities across the state to cut expenditure and raise revenue through different channels. One of the channels is to raise the overall level of tuition and fees, for both in-state and out-of-state students. But this proposal will face enormous opposition because 85 percent of UNC-System undergraduates are North Carolina residents. Thus, the UNC board is considering freezing tuition for in-state students but raise tuition for out-of-state students.
According to The News & Observer, the university system’s governing board will soon vote on a proposed tuition freeze for students who are North Carolina residents, along with increases averaging 4.2 percent for most fees. But at the same time, out-of-state students might be facing a sharp tuition increase if N.C. State’s proposal of raising out-of-state tuition by 9.2 percent were to be approved.
Recent years’ data on enrollment show that the number of North Carolina students is stable whereas out-of-state students are on the rise. The cap of 18 percent placed on out-of-state undergraduate students means resources for low-cost higher education are scarce. It is reasonable to raise the price if the demand for this resource is high, which is how market force is working on limited resources. N.C. State’s Chancellor Randy Woodson said the University is attracting more out-of-state students because of its growing reputation, and it’s considered one of the top “best value” colleges in the nation. Even with the 9.2 percent increase, N.C. State’s tuition level is still behind most of its peers across the nation.
But the seemingly sound proposal doesn’t come without opposition. In fact, whether to enroll more out-of-state students has long been a controversial debate among UNC-System leaders and North Carolina lawmakers. Some question if out-of-state tuition is an effective way to collect enough revenue to save the new round of budget cuts. Others are concerned that the spike of tuition will make UNC-System less attractive to talents that potentially may contribute to the state. The UNC-System has data to show that 45 percent of out-of-state students are employed in North Carolina within three years of graduation, suggesting that the graduates have contributed to the state’s economic development.
Some colleges in the system are far from reaching the maximum capacity of in-state students. In 2012, N.C. A&T State University exceeded the out-of-state cap and thus was subject to violation of the law. More North Carolina high school students are interested in the engineering program at N.C. State than the University is able to admit.
As negotiation of the budget cuts is no longer on the table, the UNC-System should strike a balance between making up the budget and giving in-state students top priority. Despite skepticism, the cap of out-of-state students should be loosened, but it can be conducted on an individual college basis. It is not difficult for each college to estimate and forecast the numbers of prospective applicants of both in-state and out-of-state students. Greater freedom to admit more out-of-state students should be given to those schools that are less attractive to North Carolina residents.
Send Ziyi your thoughts at technician-viewpoint@ncsu.edu.
