Tuition Going Up $225 for All Undergraduates

Posted on Feb. 27, 2015

Tuition will go up $225 for all undergraduate students this fall following action by the UNC System Board of Governors on Friday. The new rates had been recommended last fall by the UNC trustees, acting on the recommendation of the tuition and fees task force and the subsequent recommendation of Chancellor Carol L. Folt.

The vote was 18-9 in favor of the increase.

North Carolina resident tuition and required fees will rise to $8,334 per year, or 2.8 percent; out-of-state students will pay $33,416, up 0.7 percent.

Some increases in fees for all undergraduates — including a new $30 campus security fee — are offset by a $36 reduction in student health service fees. The health fees became an issue last year when some BOG members questioned how they were used.

Tuition for all graduate students will go up $450. Resident graduate students will pay $9,643, up 5.2 percent, and out-of state residents will pay $26.854, up 1.7 percent. Those figures do not include required fees.

The BOG also approved increases for the 2016-17 school year — another $233 increase in tuition for all undergraduates and a $500 increase for graduate students.

The 2015-16 increases come on the heels of a year in which in-state undergraduates saw no increase but nonresidents were hit with a 12.3 percent increase mandated by the N.C. General Assembly.

Projected revenue from the undergraduate and graduate increases for 2015-16 is $8.2 million, which would be used for faculty salary increases and funding to help retain faculty, expanded course offerings and graduate student support.

According to the BOG’s figures, tuition has risen 91 percent for in-state undergraduates since 2005 and 92 percent for those from outside the state.

The new security fee, levied on all 16 system campuses, is designed to provide the campuses with reliable annual funding to cover the costs of increased demands from students and their parents and government regulators on safety issues, including sexual assault. The Chapel Hill campus, currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights for its handling of sexual-violence cases, has significantly beefed up its response and enforcement resources.

The money is intended for hiring and training police officers and specialists in areas such as sexual assault, substance abuse and counseling.

---

More online…

• Modest Tuition Increase Recommended for Next Fall
  December 2014 news report
• BOG Caps Tuition Revenues Used for Financial Aid
  August 2014 news report
• BOG Urges Lawmakers to Reconsider Nonresident Tuition Hike
  February 2014 news report
• After-Hours Student Parking Fee, Nonresident Tuition Hike Approved
  November 2013 news report
• Tuition Might Not Go Up for In-Staters Next Year
  August 2013 news report
• Trustees Recommend Hike in Tuition for Nonresidents
  November 2012 news report
• Task Force Backs Higher Tuition for Out-of-Staters
  October 2012 news report
• BOG Decides Against Cap on Tuition Set-Aside for Aid
  September 2012 news report
• Board of Governors Decides: Tuition Up 9.6% for In-State
  February 2012 news report

---