UNC’s Tuition and Fee Advisory Task Force met Wednesday afternoon to discuss proposals regarding a student fee increase, a school-based tuition increase and a campus-based tuition increase.
What’s new?
- Members discussed a request to increase the student health fee by $10. The fee increase would help support the multicultural health program, and the request for it comes with significant student support, Nate Knuffman, the interim vice chancellor for finance and operations at UNC, said.
- Members also discussed two other fees whose requests were for name and justification changes.
- The committee then discussed the law school proposal to increase tuition for nonresident J.D. students by 6.5 percent, from $38,287 in the 2020-21 academic year to $40,787 for the 2021-22 academic year. The committee approved this proposal.
- The dental school proposals to increase tuition for nonresident doctoral and master's degree students, by 25 percent and 50 percent respectively, were withdrawn from review.
- The bulk of the meeting’s discussion related to the proposed campus-based tuition increase for nonresident undergraduate and graduate students. They discussed reasons for recommending either a two percent, two-and-a-half percent or three percent tuition increase for those students.
- Jacob Newton, treasurer of the Graduate and Professional Student Federation, said COVID-19 has changed students’ abilities to pay for school compared to last year. He recommended a tuition increase of two percent or lower.
- Knuffman said the University relies on funds from appropriation and tuition to support the educational mission.
- “And we know the appropriation outlook is constrained and it’s likely constrained for some time as we look to the future,” he said.
- Jennifer Gerz-Escandón, an associate dean at the graduate school, said program excellence requires resources and tuition needs to be increased to remain competitive with UNC’s peers.
- After Newton moved to propose a two percent tuition increase for nonresident undergraduate and nonresident graduate students, the committee voted in favor of the motion.
Who is on the task force?
- The committee is made up of students and faculty primarily from financial offices.
What happens next?
- The Student Fee Advisory Subcommittee will review the recommendations on fees, a nonresident law school tuition increase, and a tuition increase for nonresident graduate and undergraduate students.
- The senior leadership at the University will then review the recommendations and present them to the Board of Trustees, Knuffman said.
- Once the BOT takes action, the proposals will be extended to the UNC System office and the Board of Governors will review them from January through March.
- Student rates will be billed on July 1 for the 2021-2022 academic year.
