Costs

American colleges and universities spend billions of dollars a year from state, federal, and private sources. The following articles identify ways to cut costs and ensure that public investment in higher education provides value to students, taxpayers, and society.

UNC, Dole research initiative announced in Kannapolis

Sep 13, 2005 ·

KANNAPOLIS – More than two years after Pillowtex closed in July 2003, a major public-private research initiative is in development that will transform the site of the former manufacturing company into what is billed as a national leader in biotechnology research.

The plan, known as the North Carolina Research Campus, will utilize research initiatives from institutions within the University of North Carolina, Dole Food Company, and other private research companies. Full details of the project were announced during a press conference in Kannapolis on Sept. 12.

Better Way to Nominate BOG Members

Sep 8, 2005 ·

CHAPEL HILL — Every two years, the General Assembly is charged with appointing 16 members to the UNC Board of Governors, half of the board’s 32-seat voting membership. The Board of Governors is invested with great power, and its decisions affect the state’s citizens, especially those with children in the UNC system.

State law tasks the House and Senate each to choose eight members, but it doesn’t stipulate exactly how the selections are to be made. That is left up to the rules adopted by the respective chambers. You might expect that the procedures would be fair and open, but that isn’t the case.

Recently, the process has been conducted under a veil of secrecy that does a disservice to the taxpayers who fund the UNC system to the tune of more than $2 billion annually.

Is it necessary for everyone to go to college?

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Fifty years ago, college education was sold to students as a way of broadening their intellectual horizons. The curriculum was filled with courses in literature, philosophy, history and so on. If you were looking for job training, that was mostly found in the job market itself, or at technical institutes and community colleges.

Strangely, the situation has changed almost 180 degrees. Today most people look to higher education for job training (or at least preparation) and great numbers of students believe that without a college degree, they will be unemployable in all but menial labor. At the same time, the old idea that the purpose of a college education is to broaden one’s intellectual horizons has been largely relegated to the broom closet. True, quite a few institutions still pay lip service to the importance of a liberal education, but in fact it is quite easy for students at most of them to earn a BA without taking any of the kind of courses that used to be the pillars of the curriculum. Students who want to learn about, say, philosophy or history would be better off looking for a good lecture series on tape than looking through the course catalogue.

Legislature amends Umstead Act

Sep 6, 2005 ·

RALEIGH – Earlier this session, legislators passed a law that would make it easier for the University of North Carolina to compete with small businesses in college communities. The bill, HB 1539, which sets forth the changes to the Umstead Act, was opposed by several business leaders including several in Orange County.

The bill was unanimously passed by members of both the House and Senate. The Umstead Act is a 76-year-old provision that prohibits unfair state-supported competition with private companies.

Why Does College Cost So Much?

Aug 25, 2005 ·

As college students begin a new academic year, many parents are reeling from tuition fees. This fall’s probable average 8% increase at public universities, added onto double-digit hikes in the two previous years, means tuition at a typical state university is up 36% over 2002 – at a time when consumer prices in general rose less than 9%. In inflation-adjusted terms, tuition today is roughly triple what it was when parents of today’s college students attended school in the ’70s. Tuition charges are rising faster than family incomes, an unsustainable trend in the long run. This holds true even when scholarships and financial aid are considered. One consequence of rising costs is that college enrollments are no longer increasing as much as before. Price-sensitive groups like low-income students and minorities are missing out. A smaller proportion of Hispanics between 18 and 24 attend college today than in 1976. The U.S. is beginning to fall below some other industrial nations in population-adjusted college attendance.

BOG discuss UNC, president search

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RALEIGH – Three members of the UNC Board of Governors participated in a town hall-type of meeting with members of the Capital Area Republican Club Tuesday night. Although a wide variety of topics were covered, most of the discussion centered on the search for a new UNC president.

Brent Barringer, Frank Grainger, and Peter Hans discussed the candidate search in general as well as the candidacy of Erskine Bowles in particular during their presentations. All three said that the board would consider all candidates, but with the media and politicians getting behind Bowles it was making it hard to conduct a search. Those same sentiments were expressed by Board of Governors Chair Brad Wilson during the board’s regular meeting earlier this month.

When is a Student from Ohio Really a North Carolinian?

Aug 18, 2005 ·

In one of the strangest state budget provisions in years, if a student from Ohio (or any other state or even a foreign country) is awarded a full scholarship to attend one of the campuses of the UNC system, then that student can be officially counted as being a North Carolina resident. What is going on? Why say that a kid with a New Jersey driver’s license is a North Carolinian?

The answer is that this bit of definitional legerdemain is designed to evade the long-standing cap on out-of-state residents who may enroll in the state university system. Under state law, UNC campuses cannot enroll more than 18 percent of their students from non-residents. Since the taxpayers of the state put up most of the money to operate the UNC system, the argument goes, most of the places for students ought to be reserved for students whose parents pay taxes into the state treasury.

BOG Insists President Search Far From Over

Aug 15, 2005 ·

CHAPEL HILL – UNC Board of Governors Chair Brad Wilson Friday debunked the notion that board members have decided on a replacement for President Molly Broad before the search process has even interviewed a single candidate.

Wilson, who spoke during Friday’s full Board of Governors meeting, said the Presidential Search Committee intends to review all possible candidates and proceed with integrity. The comments came as speculation continues to grow that former Clinton Administration Chief of Staff and two-time Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Erskine Bowles is the front-runner for the position. Bowles, who has received the support from legislators from both parties, has made it known that he would like to serve as the system’s next president.