UNC System president aims for 8th straight year without tuition increase

UNC System President Peter Hans said Thursday he doesn’t want to raise undergraduate tuition at any of the system schools next year.

Hans made the remarks to the UNC System Board of Governors.

"In real dollars, that means tuition at our public universities is lower today and will be lower next year than it was at the end of the Obama administration," Hans said.

The proposal would mark the eighth straight year without an increase.

"There’s not a single other state in the country that can claim a similar achievement, not one," Hans said.

Hans said he would like to see the system go an entire decade without a tuition increase.

The state has 16 public universities.

Tuition costs are as low as $1,000 for two semesters at Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, UNC Pembroke and Western Carolina University, which are part of the NC Promise initiative.

In-state tuition costs $7,019 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the 2023-24 school year, state data shows.

In July, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced it would provide free tuition for students whose families make less than $80,000 per year. The new policy is set to start for the 2024 class.