Little to no good news has come out of UNC-system recently regarding tuition, particularly for out-of-state students, until last week’s Board of Governors’ decision to ask officially for a repeal of high out-of-state tuition hikes.
As the board continues to explore ways to make North Carolina universities affordable to both in- and out-of-state students, it should further consider measures aimed at making education affordable to students who reside near North Carolina borders.
A policy being weighed by the board would grant in-state tuition to students living within 25 miles of campuses located near a state line. This includes UNC-Asheville, UNC-Charlotte and Appalachian State University.
If the board pursues this option, it should remove the blunt 25-mile range and customize each distance according to the geography of the areas. This would prevent any awkward or unnatural cut-off that would surely be caused by a blanket range. Tennessee state schools have adopted a similar policy, which uniquely stipulates distances for each school affected by the policy.
Another possible tuition policy is currently being test run by Arkansas universities. Under it, all students in states neighboring Arkansas that meet a certain GPA and standardized test score cut off automatically receive in state tuition rates in Arkansas.
It’s important to remember that North Carolina universities are paid for by North Carolina taxpayers for North Carolina students. Therefore, requiring a GPA cutoff would ensure that these out-of-state students are actively improving the university.
Perhaps a happy medium between the Tennessee and Arkansas policies would best fit this state, in which students within a certain distance from the North Carolina border that also meet GPA requirements receive in-state tuition.
