The plan, which the UNC-system Board of Governors approved Wednesday, raises tuition systemwide by 8 percent for in-state students and 12 percent for out-of-state students. The plan allots the revenue to individual campuses for projected enrollment increases and to fund need-based financial aid.
But the General Assembly, which convenes May 28, has the power to alter the board's plan. Last year, the state legislature increased tuition systemwide by 9 percent, overruling the board's proposed hike of 4 percent.
Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, said he might offer a proposal this summer changing how the tuition money is distributed.
"I'll certainly talk to the other members and see if there's sufficient support," he said.
Rand, chairman of the N.C. Senate Rules and Operations Committee, is known as a major supporter of UNC-CH in the state legislature. He said the University likely would lose funding already due to future budget cuts and should not lose additional revenue to other system schools.
Legislators will scour the budget for potential cuts this summer because the state is facing a projected shortfall of more than $1 billion for the 2002-03 fiscal year.
For example, Rand said that if the budget at each UNC-system school was cut this summer by 4 percent, then UNC-CH would lose a disproportionate amount of money because it already surrendered part of its tuition revenue to other campuses. "(The plan) is not in the best interest of the system or of Carolina," he said.
Rand added that legislators might also discuss campus-based tuition increases at UNC-CH. The BOG approved a $300 increase, despite the UNC-CH Board of Trustees' request for a $400 increase.
Rand said the decision the General Assembly reaches on campus-initiated tuition will depend in large part on how the systemwide tuition revenues are distributed.