A new study raises questions about the much-vaunted excellence of North Carolina’s higher-education system.

Ohio University economist Richard Vedder and a graduate student, Andrew Gillen, don’t conclusively answer the question raised by the paper’s title, “North Carolina’s Higher Education System: Success or Failure?” They do, however, raise some doubts about its success.

Three highlights:

• N.C. taxpayers fork over more for higher education than in most states, but North Carolina has fewer adults with bachelor’s degrees, per capita, than the U.S. average.

• Instructional costs at UNC-Chapel Hill are more than twice what they are at N.C. State and more than four times what they are at some other UNC schools.

• Because of grants and scholarships, on average students attending a school in the UNC system paid less than $1,000 in tuition in 2004.

The study is based on the extensive information supplied by the Department of Education in its IPEDS collection of statistics (at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds).

The most stunning finding is that North Carolina’s government (i.e., taxpayers), pays far more for higher education than the average state in the United States and more than the surrounding states. But North Carolina does not have as many college graduates, per capita, as some of its neighboring states.

North Carolina appropriates $7,153 per student (that is, per full-time equivalent student). The U.S. average is much lower – $4,871. North Carolina’s figures also are well above those of its nearby states. Georgia appropriates $5,760 per student, Tennessee, $4,721 per student, and Virginia, $4,576 per student.

Despite this high appropriation, the N.C. population is not highly educated. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 25.6 percent of the state’s adult population had a bachelor’s degree in 2006. This percentage is less than Virginia’s, at 32.1 percent, and Georgia’s, at 28.1 percent, but more than South Carolina, at 22.6 percent, and Tennessee, at 22 percent. It is below the national average of 27.2 percent.

North Carolina’s government spends 50 percent more than the government of Virginia on higher education but has an adult population that is less educated. The state’s relatively low figure persists although many well-educated people are drawn to North Carolina from other states.

This report raises puzzling questions.

Wolfpack fans might look at the differences in instructional costs between UNC- Chapel Hill and N.C. State. Both schools usually are considered “flagship” schools, yet UNC-Chapel Hill spent $22,876 per student, while N.C. State spent only $9,787. That is, Chapel Hill spends well over twice as much on instruction as does N.C. State.

Definitions of instructional costs might differ with each university because they are self-reported data, but they reflect to some extent the cost of faculty. Faculty salaries are higher at Chapel Hill, about $85,000 on average compared with $75,000 at N.C. State.

Another difference is the number of classes faculty members teach. As Gillen and Vedder say, instructional costs “likely include research activities, at least those funded by the institution through low teaching loads for faculty.” Federal statistics lack information about teaching loads.

Instructional costs at other UNC campuses are substantially lower than at Chapel Hill. N.C. Central spends $6,725; UNC-Greensboro, $6,591, UNC-Charlotte, $6,570; and N.C. A & T, $5,231.

The statistics show that tuition covers a small part of the costs. When scholarships and grants are taken into account, the average price of tuition to students at a four-year UNC school was slightly less than $1,000 in 2004. The average published tuition in 2005 was $3,631.

Jane S. Shaw is president of the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in Raleigh.