Survey: Students Prefer No Tuition Hike

Of the 597 students who voted, 62 percent showed a personal preference for no tuition increase next year, and 51.4 percent voted for no increase as the lowest reasonable increase.

Members of student government plan to formally announce and present the results of the survey as part of their presentation at the UNC Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, where the trustees are slated to vote on a one-year, $400 tuition increase recommended by the Task Force on Tuition.

"The BOT will see that students are willing to help a little, but they can't absorb a drastic increase," said Student Body President Justin Young.

Student Body Vice President Rudy Kleysteuber said the results of the survey confirm what student government expected. "(The results) clearly show that students don't feel a pressing need for tuition increases this year," Kleysteuber said. "The increases can wait."

The survey, which was posted from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday on Student Central, asked students to select the "lowest reasonable," "highest affordable" and "personal preference" for tuition increases. The choices for each were $0, $100, $200 and $400 increases.

In addition to the 51.4 percent of students who selected no increase as the lowest reasonable increase, 27.5 percent chose a $100 increase, 14 percent were in favor of a $200 increase, and 7 percent picked a $400 increase.

Of voting students 33.3 percent said no tuition increase would be affordable, while 26.6 percent said a $100 increase was the highest affordable. And 26.1 percent said a $200 increase would be reasonable, and 13.9 percent said a $400 increase was the highest affordable.

Besides the 62 percent of students who chose no increase as their personal preference, 19.1 percent preferred a $100 increase, 10.3 percent selected a $200 increase, and 8.5 percent chose a $400 increase.

Kleysteuber said the turnout -- 597 students -- was good, considering the circumstances of the poll. "We couldn't expect a large turnout," he said. "It was a last-minute affair with little glamour."

Young said the turnout could have been affected by the novelty of the survey since this was the first time an online student opinion poll had been used.

"We were so rushed, it was hard to get information out," he said.

"In the past, we've had more preparation time to focus on informing the students about the issues, and that's one of our frustrations with the Board of Trustees. There hasn't been much of an opportunity for ample feedback from students and faculty."

Board of Elections Chairwoman Emily Margolis said the number of voting students doubled after 6 p.m. "At the (student government) candidates' meeting, I told all the running candidates that they needed to have an opinion on tuition, and if they hadn't voted (in the survey) yet, they needed to," she said.

Kleysteuber emphasized the importance of a large student turnout at a rally student government is planning for during the BOT meeting, even in light of the poll results. "If students don't show up in large numbers at the BOT meeting on Thursday, then we have no right to complain in nine months when the tuition goes up."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.