McCrory’s proposed budget neglects higher education

Last week, the Office of State Budget and Management released Gov. Pat McCrory’s first budget proposal. The proposal contained drastic cuts to the UNC system.

This proposed budget would damage higher education in the state and force the system to sacrifice the quality of education. It hits UNC-Chapel Hill harder than many of the state’s other schools.

The budget’s less-than-enthusiastic tone on public higher education was set early in McCrory’s term, when he derided liberal arts education during a radio interview while discussing his vision for educational reform.

McCrory has stressed his intentions to “make North Carolina an engine for job creation,” but if he wishes to succeed in that endeavor, this budget proposal certainly is not the right approach to take.

The $55 million cut would be accompanied by increasing out-of-state tuition by 12.3 percent for six universities — including UNC-Chapel Hill— and an increase of 6 percent for out-of-state students at the remaining schools.

This tuition hike would cause a reduction in the geographic diversity of students on campus. Moreover, increased tuition would discourage many talented out-of-state students from attending the University.

Also, non-resident students receiving full scholarships would be considered out-of-state students when assessing tuition. This would cause scholarship foundations to award fewer scholarships to out-of-state students. Diversity and talent would suffer.

According to the budget, raising tuition for full scholarship students across the system would raise $8.6 million for the state next year. But it comes as the very real cost of scaring off top talent and shrinking a future alumni donor pool.

The proposed budget would also force the consolidation of “small” and “duplicative” degree programs.

This would cause programs that have been designed for specific occupations to be generalized, resulting in new graduates being less competitive in their potential career fields.

Also, this proposal could include the elimination of programs that are found at multiple schools, prohibiting those not enrolled in the chosen school from majoring in their desired field.

Additionally, N.C. School of Science and Math graduates would see a reinstatement of the waivers that granted them free tuition at UNC-system schools.

These waivers were stopped two years ago to help ease the budget deficit. Reinstating this program seems odd in a budget full of cuts.

It is unreasonable to expect that each student graduating from the school is qualified for a full tuition waiver. Universities across the system have a wide variety of merit and academic scholarships that the school’s graduates can apply for.

The program, which cost the state $3.1 million in 2008-09, is inequitable for graduating high school students. The high school’s graduates should have the same access to recognition and support, just like the other public high school students in the state. Though their attendance should be taken into account, it alone doesn’t merit a tuition waiver.

Furthermore, the UNC-system Board of Governors set a goal to increase the percentage of N.C. residents holding a bachelor’s degree to at least 32 percent — currently at 26 percent — by 2018. The increased tuition and larger class sizes that would result from this budget do not seem like the appropriate strategy to reach that goal. By making degrees less affordable, those in the state who struggle to pay tuition will have an even harder time.

Even if this six percent increase is somehow met, the value of each graduate’s degree will significantly deteriorate. The decrease in the quality of the education received by each graduate will certainly be harmful to the integrity of the system.

Employers will no longer view a UNC graduate with the same respect if the system is turned into a degree factory.

The UNC system has long been a bastion of higher education. While the economic woes of recent years have forced the system to make significant cuts, it is time the cuts stop.