Small Tuition Increase Proposed for UNC System

Tuition at some schools, including UNC-Chapel Hill, would remain at current levels, while costs at other schools would increase more than the average under the plan, which will be presented to the full Board of Governors Friday morning for a vote.

At North Carolina State University, for example, tuition would go up 2.7 percent. N.C. State’s Tuition Advisory Council recommended a 6.5 percent increase for in-state undergraduates, but Chancellor James Oblinger said he wanted to limit any increase to 2.7 percent.

"We are conscientiously trying to manage costs and maintain the quality programs that we have," Oblinger said.

N.C. State students staged a sit-in at the committee meeting Thursday to protest rising tuition costs. But some said they could accept the 2.7 percent increase.

"It would really hurt the out-of-state students as well (if tuition was increased any higher)," student Josh Millbrook said. "A lot of students are paying on their own, so it'd be really tough for them."

UNC System President Erskine Bowles said he was pleased with the 1.2 percent proposal.

"That's terrific, you know, when you think that our inflationary costs are rising at a much higher rate than that," he said. "The only reason that we can keep tuition down to where we are keeping it is because we have a very generous legislature that provided us resources."

Tuition increases across the UNC system averaged 5.2 percent last year, down from the 12.1 percent average increase in 2006-07.

UNC-Chapel Hill students also were pleased with the idea of no tuition increase next year.

"I am very excited for my parents," student Jenny Scholl said with a laugh.

"That would be fantastic. I would really be happy about that," student Emma Horesovsky said. "I was at a private school, and one of the reasons I left is that tuition kept going up on me."