Board of Governors talks tuition, degree programs

The UNC-system Board of Governors wrapped up its monthly meeting on Friday. Here’s some of what they covered:

Tuition increases

In February, the board will vote on both tuition and the system’s legislative priorities to take to the N.C. General Assembly in this summer’s short session. One of the priorities is to ask the legislature to repeal the hefty out-of-state tuition increase that was written into the state budget this summer.

Most system schools were slapped with the mandate for an out-of-state tuition increase — at UNC-CH, the hike is 12.3 percent, or $3,469. It was an unusual move by the legislature that bypassed the board’s standard process of finalizing tuition decisions after reviewing campus requests.

“At least (in) recent memory, the Board of Governors is the place where tuition has been set, and our board is really well positioned to do that,” UNC-system President Tom Ross said at a news conference on Friday. “They’re the ones who are in the position to best know what we need — what we need for quality, what we’re doing about efficiency and therefore what we need in terms of tuition.”

Ross — along with several board members and chancellors, including UNC-CH’s Carol Folt — also said that such a high tuition increase could lead to a drop in the quality of out-of-state applicants.

Ross has already recommended a tuition freeze for in-state undergraduates. The board will make the final decision in February, but board chairman Peter Hans said at the news conference that the board seems to support Ross’ recommendations.

ECSU degree programs

The board voted to discontinue four degree programs at Elizabeth City State University — studio art, marine environmental science, physics and geology. The discontinuation is an effort to cut costs at the university, which has struggled with enrollment declines and a $5.5 million budget shortfall this year.

In a controversial move this fall, ECSU considered eliminating several more degrees, including history and political science.

N.C A&T enrollment

The board also voted to let N.C. Agricultural & Technical State University to enroll more out-of-state students than previously allowed. There is an 18 percent cap for the number of out-of-state students that most system schools are allowed to admit.

For one year, N.C. A&T will be allowed to admit a maximum of 25 percent out-of-state students, as long as the school still aggressively recruits in-state students. The initative could be extended for up to four years. The university has struggled attracting qualified North Carolinians, but it has experienced high demand from out-of-state students.

Members were supportive of the initiative as a way of helping N.C. A&T, but many were concerned about the precedent this will set.

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