Freshmen Will Pay More; Tuition Stays Frozen for Others

Posted on March 8, 2017

Tuition will go up $138 for North Carolina resident undergraduates enrolling in the University next fall; for out-of-state residents the hike will be $639.

Mandatory fees will go up slightly, raising the total to $9,005 per year from the current rate of $8,834 for in-state students, a 1.9 percent increase. The new out-of-state total is $34,588, up by 1.9 percent from $33,916.

The new rates were approved in March by the UNC System Board of Governors.

But for in-state students, the new rates will apply only to freshmen. Other classes will continue to pay at the rates frozen by the BOG last year when it began implementing a law, enacted by the N.C. General Assembly last summer, designed to remove unpredictability in the cost of attending the state’s universities.

Members of the class entering in 2017 will not see their tuition rise, as long as they can graduate in four years; those who cannot finish in four years without extenuating circumstances face financial penalties. The freeze does not apply to out-of-state students.

The freeze requires continuous enrollment, defined as a student being consecutively enrolled in eight consecutive fall and spring semesters in courses creditable toward a baccalaureate degree. Summer school attendance is not required to maintain continuity.

The law recognizes that some academic programs require five years; those students’ rates will be frozen for that span.

Transfer students receive fixed tuition for a prorated time period, based on credits accumulated at the transferring institutions.