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Post on November 25, 2009 by 3 Comments »

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The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees recently voted to raise undergraduate tuition for in-state students by 5.2 percent next year and fees by 5.5 percent.

The increase comes in the middle of the worst recession in 75 years. Families are struggling to pay the bills and keep their houses. There’s no extra money to pay for their kid’s higher college tuition.

This is the fourth time in the last six years that tuition has increased. The Trustees must not have read the state constitution, especially Section Two of Article Nine.

The General Assembly shall provide 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-CH campus stands to gain $2 million from the tuition increase or one-fifth of the state subsidy to the Ram’s Club and other athletic booster groups who pay in-state tuition for out-of-state athletes.

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Comments (Closed):3

  1. TT
    November 25, 2009 at 8:29 am

    Everyone is suffering in this economic downturn. Unfortunately
    we all are sacrificing and this should include the parents of
    students in the UNC system. Compared to losing a job,an
    increase in tuition isn’t as bad as it seems.
    Tuition breaks for athletes should be ended ASAP!

  2. Something Clever
    November 25, 2009 at 11:11 am

    “Tuition breaks for athletes should be ended ASAP!”

    While this certainly seems to make sense on the surface, I feel that the situation is a complex enough that a blanket statement like this should not be considered.

    First, most of the athletic scholarships are pre-existing. Do we just say “sorry, we changed our mind” and pull the rug out from those people?

    Second, while not universally true, many recipients of athletic scholarships would be dependent on other aid in order to attend. In some cases, there would be no cost cutting, just cost moving.

    Third, and while not the rule, there are a number of athletic programs that are revenue positive for the university. According to Forbes, in 2007 UNC basketball posted a $16.9 million net profit. While running programs solely for the profit at a public university isn’t really how things should be done (in my opinion), a little pragmatism should be applied. Eliminating $16.9 million in additional funds when money is short seems like a really bad idea.

    Fourth, what percent of the expenditures are athletic scholarships? Athletic programs are a big part of the positive PR for universities, so cutting them is a big risk. We need to know the reward before we advocate taking that risk.

    All-in-all, a 5.2% increase in tuition isn’t out of line. Education CPI is up 4.9% from this time last year. It isn’t like this is way beyond the norm.

  3. Adam Linker
    November 25, 2009 at 11:34 am

    Something Clever, the issue is not about shifting costs. The althletic booster clubs pay for athletic scholarships. That means that the tuition breaks help the athletic booster clubs by reducing the amount they must pay for an athlete.

    The athlete is going to get a scholarship and the booster club is going to help fund it. The only question is how much the booster club pays for each scholarship.