TO THE EDITOR:
In response to Mary Cooper and Zealan Hoover’s letter, “Avoiding a tuition increase is irresponsible,” the authors present a false dichotomy of choices: Either accept large tuition increases, or cause enormous harm to the quality of UNC.
Tuition raises should not be totally out of the question. However, they should be viewed as only one tool capable of achieving fiscal stability. One measure of raising more revenue is removing the out-of-state student cap currently in place for freshmen applicants.
One has only to look at elite public institutions to gain a sense of the effectiveness of this option. The University of Michigan and the University of Virginia admit over 30 percent of their student body from out of state. The University of California-Berkeley has likewise opened its arms to out-of-state students, along with their increased tuition payments to the school.
This option, if implemented at UNC, would likely raise considerable revenue and increase the selectivity and quality of the study body.
We, as a University community, are facing a serious problem that requires tough decisions to be made. The budget shortfall should not totally fall on the backs of the students attending the state’s flagship public university.
As a multi-generation North Carolinian, I say as the state decreases its obligation of funding to the university, UNC should experience a proportional decrease in its obligation to solely educate the students of the state. As students, we are paying more than ever and watching our class sizes grow higher.
It’s time to change.
Benjamin Brumley
Class of 2011
