Campuses eye tuition increases

Chapel Hill, N.C. — Trustees at North Carolina Central University on Wednesday approved a tuition increase for next fall, and the boards of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University are discussing proposed increases.

Any increases must be approved the by UNC Board of Governors, which last year voted against raising tuition.

The governors last week approved a $3 billion budget that sought the smallest increase in state funding in 20 years. Officials at the UNC system's 16 campuses have been cutting budgets by 4 to 5 percent, and raising tuition would help them offset some of that lost funding.

N.C. Central trustees approved raising tuition by 3.1 percent for all undergraduates and 6.5 percent for all graduate students. The campus hasn't raised undergraduate tuition in three years, officials said.

The in-state undergraduate tuition would go from $2,153 to $2,220 under the proposal.

UNC-Chapel Hill trustees met Wednesday to discuss Chancellor Holden Thorp's recommendation for a 6.5 percent increase – the maximum allowed under a state cap imposed two years ago – for in-state undergraduates next year and smaller relative increases for out-of-state and graduate students.

The increase would add $240 to the tuition bill for an in-state undergraduate, to $3,945. Tuition would go up $1,150 for out-of-state undergraduates and $400 for all graduate students under the proposal,. Thorp said each of those amounts was the middle recommendation that an advisory committee presented to him.

The Chapel Hill trustees were considering a 4.4 percent increase in student fees.

Thorp said 35 percent of the additional tuition revenue would be earmarked for student financial aid, and another 35 percent would go to increase faculty salaries. The remaining 30 percent would go to instructional services and academic support.

North Carolina State University trustees were scheduled to discuss a proposed 3.6 percent increase on Thursday, as well as a 6.3 percent increase in student fees.