Tuition Could Go Up for Nonresidents

Posted on Nov. 13, 2020

Tuition will go up 2 percent — $684 for out-of-state undergraduates and $566 for nonresident graduate students — in fall 2021 if the UNC System Board of Governors approves actions taken Thursday by the UNC trustees.

The trustees voted not to raise tuition for in-state students.

The increases would amount to $3.3 million in additional revenue as the University faces potentially dire financial impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Including mandatory fees, out-of-state undergraduates would pay $34,882 per year and out-of-state graduate students $28,844. In-state residents now pay $8,986 per year.

Fees would rise by $10 for all students for health services — the only category of fees currently allowed by the Board of Governors to be raised.

The trustees were briefed about the significant extent to which UNC’s tuition and fees compare with the universities of Wisconsin, Maryland, Texas, Washington, California-Berkeley, Minnesota, Michigan, Virginia, Pittsburgh and UCLA. Those schools’ in-state undergraduates pay an average of $14,155; nonresidents at those schools pay an average of $41,327.

UNC’s analysis also showed that Chapel Hill students pay the lowest fees in the UNC System — $1,547 against an average of $2,191. N.C. State is closest to Carolina at $1,789.

Under a law enacted by the N.C. General Assembly in 2016, incoming first-year students are protected against tuition increases 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 was intended in part as an incentive to complete college in four years. Those who take longer than four years without extenuating circumstances face financial penalties.

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