The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted Thursday to increase tuition for in-state students by $200 and out-of-state students by $950. The increase is a reduction from what trustees had considered Wednesday.

UNC-Chapel Hill’s request will join others within the UNC system for a possible vote on tuition increases next month during the Board of Governors meeting Feb. 11. Board of Governors Chairman Brad Wilson has been outspoken in his belief that after several consecutive years of tuition increases that UNC system students deserve a break.

The UNC tuition increase came after extensive discussion Wednesday during the Audit and Finance and University Affairs committee meetings, UNC spokesman Mike McFarland said. At the end of the discussions, trustees focused on a $250 increase for in-state students and a $1,000 increase for out-of-state students. Trustees heard from out-of-state students during the meeting who discussed how the increase could discourage out-of-state students who want to come to UNC-Chapel Hill.

When the full Board of Trustees met Thursday at the Carolina Inn, trustees voted to reduce the increase by $50 for both in-state and out-of-state students.

Currently, UNC-Chapel Hill in-state students pay $4,451 per year to attend the school. With the increase, the proposed new tuition is $4,651, a 4.5 percent increase.

Out-of-state students currently pay $17,549 per year in tuition. With the increase, out-of-state students would pay $18,499. The proposal represents a 5.4 percent increase.

UNC-Chapel Hill joins other system schools that have announced proposed tuition increases for the upcoming school year. Some of the proposals include a $300 increase in 2005-06 and 2006-07 at North Carolina State University. East Carolina University’s Board of Trustees approved a $300 increase for the upcoming school year in December. Appalachian State has also approved a tuition increase request for the coming year.

Wilson said he thinks holding the line on tuition increases for the coming year is an educational policy decision that must be made. He said previous increases have put the system in a position where it is possible for tuition to remain the same next year.

Wilson said he thinks the UNC system should work with the General Assembly to obtain what he considered adequate funding for the system instead of another round of tuition increases.

“It is still my position we should not increase tuition this year,” Wilson said. “… This is an educational policy we should not take this year.”

UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees members were presented three options by the Tuition Advisory Task Force, led by Provost Robert Shelton, regarding tuition increases in November that led to Thursday’s decision. The options included increases of $350 for in-state students and $800 for out-of-state students. A second option focused on a $300 increase for in-state students and $1,000 for out-of-state students. The third option, which was supported by UNC Chancellor James Moeser, had an in-state tuition increase of $250 and an out-of-state increase of $1,200.

“Rising cost of college is a serious concern for both in-and -out-of-state prospects,” according to a Tuition/Price Sensitivity presentation to the Board of Trustees in November.

Shannon Blosser ([email protected]) is a contributing writer for Carolina Journal.