UNC Tuition Has Already Tripled

Last month, members of the UNC System Board of Governors’ Committee on Budget and Finance discussed proposed tuition increases, including increases for in-state undergraduates. This is the first time in 10 years that an increase has been on the table for in-state students. UNC System institutions argue that, after a 10-year tuition freeze, they now need additional revenue to meet university needs.

Looking further back reveals that, overall, UNC’s tuition increases at most institutions have outpaced inflation. It’s true that high inflation over the past 10 years has turned UNC’s freeze into a de facto tuition decrease. But looking further back reveals that, overall, UNC’s tuition increases at most institutions have outpaced inflation.

As the graph below shows, since the 1999-2000 academic year, tuition has increased roughly 330 percent at most UNC schools, including NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, East Carolina, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, Appalachian State, NC A&T, NC Central, UNC Wilmington, UNC Asheville, Winston-Salem State, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. As I wrote here, 2000 was the first year the Board of Governors recommended tuition increases beyond what the General Assembly required.

At UNC’s four NC Promise institutions, tuition is just $1,000 for in-state students, a remarkable value. However, the existence of this program doesn’t negate the UNC System’s responsibility to follow the North Carolina Constitution, which mandates that “the benefits of The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense.”

The UNC Board of Governors should follow the N.C. Constitution by rejecting tuition increases for in-state students.

Jenna A. Robinson is president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal.