TO THE EDITOR:
Recently proposed/approved tuition hikes unfairly target students coming from North Carolina’s middle class families. Students that make just enough money to qualify for little need-based aid and already struggle to find ways to pay current tuition will be the ones finding UNC less attractive.
This is unfortunate because it goes against the commitment our state’s founders made to the people of North Carolina.
My family is made of generations of North Carolinians, including foresters, farmers, small business owners and servicemen. My parents have combined for over 60 years teaching in N.C. public schools.
These hardworking, middle-class people of North Carolina have spent their whole lives proud of the commitment their state made to public higher education.
They worked and paid taxes for years with the understanding that if they committed to North Carolina, North Carolina would commit to them by providing an affordable and excellent education to their brightest children.
The low-cost, quality education UNC has offered for centuries is the envy of every state across the country. Our goal should not be reaching higher in the U.S. News Rankings, or keeping up with likes of the University of Virginia, the University of Michigan, or the University of California at Berkeley.
Instead, politicians and state leaders should stick to the age-old idea of asking themselves how they can best fulfill the promise North Carolina has made and kept to millions of its own citizens.
After all, it is that commitment to the people of North Carolina over the past 218 years that has made UNC the great University it is today.
Sam Smith
Sophomore
Business Administration
