Fayetteville State University to reduce tuition costs to only $500 a semester

Around $152 million from the state budget was allocated to Fayetteville State University -- the largest amount of money given to the university in more than 35 years, education officials said.

Posted 10:51 p.m. Nov 19, 2021 — Updated 8:48 p.m. Nov 20, 2021

Gilbert Baez

, WRAL Fayetteville reporter; Maggie Brown, WRAL multiplatform producer

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — The new state budget includes about $164 million for Fayetteville State University — the largest amount of money given to the university in more than 35 years, Chancellor Darrel Allison said.

The funding will be applied to lower tuition to $500 per semester for in-state students. Similar programs have offset costs for students at three other colleges through the NC Promise Program — Elizabeth City State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Western Carolina University.

By comparison, the average cost of tuition for in-state North Carolina students is around $11,200 a year, according to College Calc.org.

Allison said that this spending is not a windfall for the university but instead an overdue win for the students and faculty. The HBCU is one of the oldest public institutions for higher education in the state, he pointed out.

"$1,000 a year," Allison said. "[If] that student that wants to get their four-year degree, it's only going to cost them in terms of tuition, $4,000."

Also under the program, qualified out-of-state students would only have to pay $2,500 each semester. The University of North Carolina System says this program has "increased educational access, reduced student debt and grown the state’s economy."

Over the summer, FSU used federal COVID-19 relief funds to forgive $1.6 million of student debt for those attending the university during the coronavirus pandemic. More than 14,000 students entered the fall semester debt-free.

Across the state, some 1.3 million students have a total of $47.9 billion in student debt, according to Student Loan Hero. North Carolinians borrow on average $36,200 for college, with outliers like students who attended High Point University and took out loans for an average of $90,000.

Many of the buildings across campus are desperately needing an upgrade, Allison said, so the rest of the funds will go toward construction and renovation projects.

$63 million will go a new college of education
$40 million will be used to build a new residence hall
$10 million will go toward a new parking deck

Allison says this financial boost will help FSU achieve its goal of academic excellence.

"I want to especially thank our leaders: Senate President Phil Berger, Speaker Tim Moore and Governor Cooper," he said in a statement. "For the sake of compromise and seeking to find common ground, each were willing to selflessly work for the greater good – for the teachers and state employees who will be receiving significant raises and bonuses and our students, I sincerely thank them for their leadership."

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