UNC raises deposit for admitted students to $250

In the coming months, high school seniors and transfer students accepted to UNC will have to pay an enrollment deposit of $250, marking an increase of $150 from previous years.

The hike was implemented to reduce the likelihood of students reneging on their decision to enroll at UNC, said Bobbi Owen, senior associate dean of undergraduate education and chairwoman of the undergraduate admissions advisory committee.

“If somebody pays the $100, does it mean that they’re really going to come? We hope that a student will take $250 more seriously,” she said, noting some students who qualify for financial aid can waive the deposit.

UNC’s yield rate, or the percentage of admitted students who ultimately matriculate, was 56 percent in 2007, placing it as the 14th best in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Stephen Farmer, associate provost and director of undergraduate admissions, said the increase was also intended to keep spots open for students who truly wish to attend the University.

“It makes it hard for the colleges and the universities,” he said. “There’s a big cost in having people bail out on you in the summer who you weren’t expecting to lose.

“The cost isn’t financial — it’s an unfilled seat that could have been taken by someone who really wanted to be here.”

Farmer added the average enrollment deposit of UNC’s peer institutions is $260, while UNC’s had remained unchanged for at least 11 years.

He said the deposit increase is unrelated to recent budget cuts, as officials have discussed the possibility of raising the deposit for several years.

But the extra money will help fund programs which lost grant funding last year.

Farmer said extra money given to the admissions office will go to recruiting initiatives such as the travel grant program, which allows students who are beneficiaries of financial aid to visit the campus before officially enrolling.

“It has been funded for a couple years by grant support. We don’t have that (funding) this year,” he said. “We’ll use it to support programming for low-income and first -generation college students.”

Only if a student chooses another school after May 1 does the forfeited deposit go to the University. Potential students can receive a refund for the deposit up until May 1.

The money from the deposit is credited back into a student’s account once they attend UNC.

Of the forfeited $250 deposit, $100 will go to the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, while the remaining $150 will go to the undergraduate admissions office.

An account in the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid receives unclaimed refunds and forfeited deposits of about $21,000 a year, said Shirley Ort, associate provost and director of the student aid office.

“We don’t keep any for administration,” she said. “We give all of that to students with extenuating financial circumstances.”

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