CHAPEL HILL – A report released by the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy today challenges the merits of the tuition waiver program at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, while shedding light on academic and administrative concerns at the school.
The Inquiry paper, authored and researched by John W. Pope Center Staff Writer Shannon Blosser and Executive Director George Leef, examines the program that was approved by the General Assembly in 2003. The program gives a free tuition, provided by taxpayers, to any NCSSM student to attend a UNC system school just for graduating the Durham County high school.
According to the program, any NCSSM student may receive a free tuition to attend any UNC system school. The report cites lower graduation requirements, lower SAT scores, and grade inflation in arguing that NCSSM is declining academically.
“The ‘economic benefits’ argument in favor of the tuition waiver is based on the premise that NCSSM is a markedly superior school,” the report states. “Although many of its students excel, there is clear evidence that the school’s academic standards have been eroding in recent years. Grade inflation, lower SAT scores and a lowering of the school’s graduation requirements have diminished the school’s academic quality at the same time the state is rewarding its students with free tuition at the UNC school of their choice.”
Blosser spent nine months researching NCSSM and the tuition waiver through public information requests and information gathered through sources and interviews.
“The facts in the report are substantial,” Blosser said. “We believe a review of the program by the General Assembly is necessary.”