The University’s Board of Trustees approved a proposal today to increase tuition by hundreds of dollars should the University’s funding be further cut by the state.
According to Kelly Hook, student body president and member of the Board of Trustees, the proposal suggests a tuition increase of $300 for in-state undergraduate students and $600 for out-of-state and graduate students as a result of expected state budget cuts.
“Currently they are projecting between a 10 to 15 percent budget cut, so tuition may be increased to make up for it. But I won’t be surprised if it is raised even higher than we have suggested,” said Hook. “Students should start preparing for it now.”
According to Hook, the proposal will be sent to the Board of Governors, headed by UNC System President Erskine Bowles, who will evaluate the board’s suggestions and will accept, reject or alter the proposal.
“This is simply a recommendation to the General Administration as to what we think the increase should be,” said Hook. “This has two more stops before it is official, the [GA] and then the state legislature. They may say that we have asked for too much, too little or exactly the right amount. We just don’t know.”
According to Chancellor Randy Woodson, an increase in tuition is unavoidable in lieu of the dramatic decrease in expected state funding, which could total up to $65 million.
“Even if the tuition were raised by 10 percent, which it isn’t going to since the amount is well within the 6.5 percent campus-initiated cap on increases set by the Board of Governors,” said Woodson, “it would not close the gap between the funds we have and the funds we need.”
In a memorandum from the Chancellor to the members of the Board of Trustees, Woodson said the Tuition Advisory Committee, co-chaired by interim-Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Warwick Arden and Kelly Hook, recommended increases of about 6.2 percent for undergrad residents, 3.5 percent for undergrad nonresidents, 11.2 percent for graduate residents, and 3.4 percent for graduate students classified as “nonresidents” of North Carolina.
The advisory committee also suggested the money be used mostly for financial aid allocations, funding for faculty promotions, and to “improve the quality and accessibility of the N.C. State educational experience.”
According to Woodson, the money may or may not be used for faculty promotional increases depending on the decision by the legislature to allow such increases.
“In the past three years, professors that have been promoted to higher level positions have not been allowed to have raises,” said Woodson. “This is because the current environment in the legislature.”
The advisory committee advised that about 4.8 percent of the money from the tuition increase be used for the purpose of faculty promotional increases.
Specifics of how the “quality and accessibility” of the University experience would be improved were not described, but Hook and Woodson said about half of the money from the tuition increase would go to maintaining the quality of education.
“Quality of education is a really broad idea,” said Hook, “but some of what that means is keeping good professors, technology in classrooms, keeping class sizes small, and making sure there is enough need-based financial aid.”
Woodson said the money given to the University by the state accounts for a very large portion of the University budget, and these continuous funding cuts may cost students more than a couple hundred dollars.
“We are expected to deliver a world-class education, and these budget cuts make that difficult. We have historically been well-funded by the state, but now that the state is not providing us with these funds it is becoming harder to keep the same level of education,” said Woodson. “If we continue to see these budget cuts, we are either going to have to look for more private sources of funding or we are going to see programs cut. We refuse to offer mediocre programs. Low cost and low quality are of benefit to no one.”
According to Woodson, if the University sacrifices quality for low cost, the reputation of the University and the value of a degree from N.C. State would be tarnished.
“We are still the least expensive university among our peer institutions, and we want to be the least expensive university in the country,” said Woodson. “However, if we let the quality of our University slip because we are trying so hard to keep costs low, the reputation we worked so hard to achieve over 125 years will be lost very quickly.”
