Tuition Edging Up for Out-of-State Students

The tuition increase is expected to raise nearly $4 million in additional revenues. (Photo by Grant Halverson ’93)

Small tuition increases for out-of-state students were approved Nov. 16 by UNC’s trustees.

A $600 annual increase for new students enrolling in fall 2018 brings the total for tuition and fees to $35,188. Returning out-of-state students would pay a $300 increase, $34,888.

The changes are subject to approval by the UNC System Board of Governors.

Tuition would remain at $9,004 for in-state students.

The total includes a 5 percent increase in the student health fees and increases of less than 3 percent each on four other fees — campus recreation, Carolina Union operating costs, student child care and the cost of running Carolina Performing Arts.

Including a $300 increase in tuition and fees for graduate students, the change is expected to raise nearly $4 million in additional revenues for academic programs, faculty recruitment and retention, and graduate student support.

In summer 2016, the N.C. General Assembly enacted a law to remove some of the uncertainty in college costs, with the rate students pay as incoming freshmen being frozen for four years. The provision covers North Carolina residents only; it does not affect out-of-state students or graduate and professional students. The law had two main goals: remove unpredictability and incent students to complete college in four years. Under it, those who take longer than four years without extenuating circumstances face financial penalties.