Retroactive Charges Likely in Pending Tuition Deal

State & National Editor

State and university leaders seem certain that students will have to pay even more in tuition for the fall 2001 semester, but questions remain about who will pay, when and how much.

A compromise was in the works Monday night that could bring together differing state Senate and House tuition proposals that budget writers from both chambers have been trying to reconcile since June.

Sen. Howard Lee, D-Orange, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said budget writers reached a compromise Monday that calls for a 9 percent across-the-board tuition increase for all students in the UNC system.

That proposal would raise in-state undergraduate tuition at UNC-Chapel Hill by about $200 and out-of-state undergraduate tuition by about $1,000.

The compromise discussed Monday would also increase tuition 9 percent for graduate and professional students.

The tuition increase compromise, or any other tuition increase proposal that lawmakers consider, would be retroactive, meaning students would later have to pay additional money for the fall semester that starts today.

In late June, both the House and the Senate passed budget legislation that included two drastically different tuition increase proposals.

The Senate version of the budget included a 4 percent tuition increase approved by the Board of Governors last year.

On top of the BOG-approved increase, the Senate also called for a 5 percent tuition increase for in-state students. The House proposal eliminates all in-state tuition increases and raises out-of-state tuition at UNC-CH by about $2,000.

All of the tuition proposals are also on top of the $300 increase that the BOG approved two years ago for UNC-CH and N.C. State University.

Lee said budget writers are working on all aspects of the budget, including the tuition increase, adding that a final amount for the tuition increase could be set by the end of the week.

No matter which proposal goes through, UNC-CH students will receive another bill for the fall 2001 semester.

Lee said individual universities might be given the option of how to charge students, but he said he expects most universities would simply charge students retroactively for the fall semester.

UNC-CH Financial Aid Director Shirley Ort said the retroactive tuition increase could be difficult for students to absorb.

Ort said the bill mailed out to students in July included the 4 percent BOG-approved tuition increase and the $300 increase approved last summer but nothing else. Ort said bills for additional tuition increases will be mailed out shortly after the General Assembly passes a budget.

She added that while her office has been able to provide enough aid for all students under the bills they sent out this summer, any increases beyond that, especially a large increase in out-of-state tuition, would be difficult to cover.

"We're in pretty good shape right now, but any significant increase could be difficult for us to cover," Ort said.

Ort said the school would readjust the financial aid packages for students once the new tuition bills are sent out.

Ort added that while she doesn't think any students will be forced to leave school due to the tuition increase, she said she does think some students will have to take on more loans to cover the full cost of their education.

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.