An out-of-state solution

Pervasive concern about budget cuts and tuition hikes — and their effects on the future of UNC — seems to have allowed a potentially game-changing solution to be overlooked: accepting more out-of-state students.

Admitting more out-of-state students would have a number of benefits. It would enhance UNC’s national prestige and elevate the caliber of its student body. It would also improve the quality of other UNC-system schools — a rising tide lifts all boats.

And, by drawing more talent from outside the state, UNC would cultivate a wide-reaching body of alumni who would leave Chapel Hill with a vested interest in North Carolina. And some of them might even end up sticking around to start companies, careers and adult lives.

There is a widely held misconception that the 18 percent limit on out-of-state students is mandated by North Carolina law. Some are even under the impression that this is written in the state constitution.

In truth, the ratio was stipulated by the Board of Governors in 1986. It would only require a change in BOG policy to raise the out-of-state cap. No legislation would have to passed.

The BOG could amend this policy so that the ratio instead applies to the system as a whole, rather than each campus. Currently, 88 percent of the undergraduates in the UNC system are residents of the state.

UNC, the state’s flagship institution, could go well over the current 18 percent cap without exceeding an 18 percent system-wide cap.

There’s no question that, as a publicly funded university, UNC has a duty to serve the state’s citizens. But bringing talented out-of-state students to study here isn’t a disservice to the state.

UNC certainly wouldn’t struggle to fill more out-of-state spots. Our 15 percent out-of-state acceptance rate demonstrates that admission to UNC is highly sought-after.

Bringing these students, who are choosing from America’s most selective colleges, to UNC would both boost our reputation and increase the value of a UNC degree — for out-of-staters and in-staters alike.

It’s worth noting that the sentiments behind raising the out-of-state cap are not incompatible with the provision in North Carolina’s constitution which mandates that “The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense.”

Rather than hindering accessibility, these changes would actually offer the state’s brightest students a chance to study at a first-rate institution — at a lower cost than many private schools and other so-called Public Ivies.

Though some North Carolinians would be denied a spot at UNC under the new ratio, they would not be denied an education.

These students on the margin, who would presumably matriculate to other UNC-system schools if not accepted to UNC, would provide an infusion of higher-quality students to the other system campuses.

This is a simple solution to complex problem. Unlike many issues UNC currently faces, it is entirely within the control of the BOG. And contrary to popular belief, it would benefit all of UNC’s stakeholders, residents and non-residents alike.