The inability of some UNC scholarships to keep pace with recent tuition increases could be letting top students slip away to other universities, officials say.
While UNC's tuition has seen two increases in the past two years, many of the University's 800-plus endowed scholarships have not been adjusted accordingly, said Shirley Ort, director of scholarships and student aid.
"In our experience last year, we saw that we were losing students because of merit scholarship offers from other schools," Ort said.
She said these competitors include the University of Virginia, Davidson College, N.C. State University, Wake Forest University and Duke University.
Endowed scholarships, such as the Carolina Scholars Awards, come from donations invested at an assumed 5 percent to 6 percent interest rate. The money earned from the interest is used to fund the endowed scholarships, with a specified amount being allocated to each student.
"For decades people have been creating endowed scholarships, and we are able to forever spend the interest off that initial gift," Ort said. "With the recent increase in tuition, however, the money just doesn't go as far."
Dan Thornton, senior associate director of academic scholarships, said the distribution of endowed funds is predetermined by donors and the University and that donors must approve efforts to increase scholarships amounts.
"It doesn't work that as soon as tuition increases, we can go and give more money," Thornton said.
Ort said these restrictions primarily hurt those students ineligible for need-based aid and those who receive merit scholarships in fixed amounts.
