N.C. Gets 'C' Mark In College Pricing

The report, released by the California-based National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, states that although North Carolina has improved at preparing students for college, state officials aren't making enough effort to sustain affordability.

The state's affordability grade dropped to a "C" from the "A" it received two years ago, when the report was first published.

Will Doyle, senior policy analyst for the center, said higher education systems are graded on their benefit to the state.

All states were compared to the highest-ranking state in a particular category. California was deemed most affordable this year.

Doyle said the poorest families in that state pay only 3 percent of the cost of higher education. The average cost of full-time enrollment at California community colleges is $390, he said.

But UNC-system President Molly Broad said California was ahead of all states in affordability because its General Assembly "passed a mammoth expansion in need-based programs."

"It was so substantial that the gap between California and other schools was greater," she said. "California was the only school to get an 'A,' and I think only three states got a 'B.'"

Broad said that although she did not take issue with the report's methodology, she hoped students would not hesitate to apply to a university that is "just as affordable now as it was two years ago when it received an 'A.'"

"If one student decides not to apply to the University of North Carolina because of this report, it would be a tragedy."

Brad Wilson, chairman of the UNC-system Board of Governors, said that although he doesn't agree entirely with the report, administrators should use it as a catalyst for increasing need-based aid.

Wilson said that the state already takes substantial steps to provide financial aid but that some students still might feel daunted by the task of paying for college.

"The thing that we cannot answer is how many students choose not to come because of tuition costs," he said. "Our financial aid resources are adequate to address the needs that we can identify, but we can't take into account those who choose not to apply."

Martin Lancaster, president of the N.C. Community College System, blamed recent tuition increases for the lower affordability grade in the report. "Our tuition and the universities' tuition has gone up dramatically in the past years."

But Lancaster said the state's higher education systems are not as bad as the report might indicate. "We have to be doing something right for the (enrollment) numbers to increase in record numbers."

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