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.

Budget Increases UNC Spending by 11 Percent

Aug 11, 2005 ·

RALEIGH – Two months into the 2006 fiscal year, lawmakers finally reached a consensus and approved a budget plan that will increase spending within the UNC system by 11 percent.

UNC’s appropriation for the 2005-06 fiscal year is $2.086 billion, representing 12.1 percent of the $17.2 billion budget, which was approved by the state House on Wednesday. Senate members are expected to give final approval today. A stopgap spending plan to keep state government running during the negotiations expires later today.

The budget for the 2006-07 fiscal year further increases UNC spending to $2.12 billion.

UNC President Search is California Dreamin’

Jul 28, 2005 ·

There’s an old North Carolina joke about bad ideas in California taking 10 years to arrive here. But one seems to be making record time. Exponential salary growth for public-university executives has the UNC president search committee California dreamin’.

Readers will recall that last year Marye Anne Fox, then chancellor of North Carolina State University, left Raleigh to take the same position at the University of California at San Diego. The West Coast school had offered Fox $102,000 a year more than N.C. State paid her. Fox was making $248,000 a year here; she picked up $350,000 in San Diego.

Controversy Surrounds UNC Board of Governors Selections

Jul 21, 2005 ·

Every two years, members of the General Assembly are responsible for choosing half of the 32-member University of North Carolina Board of Governors (BOG). The BOG members make important decisions on issues such as tuition, and later this year they’ll select a new president for the system.

This year’s action by the General Assembly has, however, led to controversy, with some members asking whether legislative leaders followed the law.

Elections to the BOG are governed by General Statute 116-6. It outlines two requirements for the election procedure, one covering nominees and balloting, and the other specifying when the vote must occur. According to the statute, nomination ballots should include “at least twice the number of candidates for the total seats open” and that “each house shall hold their elections within 30 legislative days after appointments to their education committees are complete.”

Grove City College Shows What Can Happen Without Title IX

Jul 14, 2005 ·

In the sports world, Title IX brings about various sets of emotions. There are those who believe the 1972 legislation – which bars discrimination based on sex at institutions receiving federal funding – has greatly increased the number of opportunities for female athletes. Others say the regulation has mostly decreased the number of opportunities for males, because schools have often dropped men’s sports to achieve equality.

It is instructive to look at the experience of one college that doesn’t have to abide by Title IX’s mandates. Grove City College, a private college in northwest Pennsylvania, does not accept federal funding therefore is exempt from federal regulations. Nevertheless, the school provides ample opportunities for men and women to compete in NCAA Division III level sports.

The story begins with the decision of Grove City’s administration to challenge the applicability of Title IX and its burdensome reporting requirements in the early 1980s. When the school failed to supply the documents demanded by the Department of Education, the DOE filed suit to stop Grove City students from receiving federal financial aid (Basic Education Opportunity Grants).

Learn the ins & outs of pursuing “culturally correct” funding

Jul 8, 2005 ·

A rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recently won a scholarship worth up to $20,000 to study Tajik and Russian languages in the Asian nation of Tajikistan. Since that scholarship obliges him to work in national security upon graduation, UNC-CH’s Prof. Charles Kurzman is worried about what kind of “dirty deeds” he might be up to.

Statement may lead to compromise

Jun 27, 2005 ·

A statement from the American Council on Education may pave the way for a compromise between academic institutions and supporters of the Academic Bill of Rights.

The statement, dated June 23, was endorsed by 26 organizations, including the College Board and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. In it, the organizations outline their support for intellectual diversity on college campuses, which was the basis of the Academic Bill of Rights legislation proposed in several states and Congress by David Horowitz. Legislation in North Carolina, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Brock, did not make the June deadline for it to be considered for full passage in the General Assembly during the two-year session.

Congress debating bill to enhance studies

Jun 24, 2005 ·

WASHINGTON – Congress is considering legislation that would provide grants to colleges to promote programs in Western Civilization and American history education as a way to improve educational quality in those subject areas.

The Higher Education for Freedom Act was introduced earlier this month by Rep. Thomas E. Petri, R-Wis., and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., with the purpose to sustain postsecondary education programs that deal with traditional American history, the American founding, and Western civilization. The bills, H.R. 2858 and S.B. 1209, are currently in education committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Groups oppose Umstead Act Changes

Jun 23, 2005 ·

RALEIGH — Business owners in many areas of North Carolina are mobilizing to oppose a bill under consideration in the state Senate that they feel would make it easier for the University of North Carolina to compete unfairly with small businesses.

Mark Zimmerman, a Chapel Hill businessman and chairman of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors, says the bill, which would amend the Umstead Act, could hinder businesses in Chapel Hill and other university communities. He mentioned specifically businesses on Franklin Street that sell UNC-Chapel Hill-related merchandise. If UNC is allowed to sell merchandise to alumni it could damage those companies.

“We are very, very concerned,” Zimmerman said. “There are real businesses and real people that will be affected by this.”

House moves to repeal tuition waiver

Jun 16, 2005 ·

RALEIGH – A provision in the state House’s version of the state budget would eliminate the controversial tuition waiver program for graduates at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.

Created during the 2003 budget negotiations, the tuition waiver gives NCSSM graduates free tuition if they choose to attend any school in the University of North Carolina system. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Guilford County Democrat, pushed the tuition waiver policy through the General Assembly in 2003, saying at the time that the tuition waiver was one of the best provisions in the budget because it would keep more of North Carolina’s brightest students in the state.

Differences exist in House, Senate plans

·

RALEIGH – With House leaders approving its version of the $17 billion state budget early Thursday morning, members will now work towards ironing out the several differences that exist between the two documents.

Those differences also include funding for programs with the University of North Carolina system. House leaders approved a budget that cuts several proposed spending initiatives approved in the Senate budget, while also including new appropriations as well.