Enrolling the Brightest
Posted on May 10, 2014Last year, the N.C. General Assembly imposed a 12.3 percent tuition increase for out-of-state undergraduates enrolling this fall at Carolina as well as for undergraduates enrolling at UNC-Wilmington, N.C. A&T and the School of the Arts. Unless the 2014 General Assembly reverses this action, not only is it likely that Carolina will fail to enroll some of the nation’s brightest students, but some of North Carolina’s brightest students will choose not to come to UNC.
Further, the increased tuition costs will make all scholarships more expensive for out-of-state students. And unlike campus-based tuition increases, last year’s legislation does not provide that the tuition revenue generated by the increases remain on the campuses that generate it. It is curious that the General Assembly raised tuition for all the remaining UNC System schools by 6 percent except for UNC-Charlotte and N.C. State University, where tuition for out-of-state undergraduate first-year students will not be increased.
The 12.3 percent tuition increase for nonresident students is more than the market will bear. Fewer nonresident students will apply for admission. Of those who apply and earn admission, fewer will choose to enroll. The student body will be weaker as a result. This loss of talent will make it harder for Carolina to recruit North Carolina’s strongest resident students, whose decisions about where to apply and enroll are driven largely by their perception of the quality of their future classmates.
Nonresident undergraduates at Carolina already are paying nearly $2,400 more than the cost of their education — a premium of 10 percent over cost. With the 12.3 percent increase, nonresident students would pay $6,000 more than the cost of their education — a premium of 25 percent over the cost.
The market for nonresident students who can earn admission to Carolina is extremely competitive. Nearly 60 percent of the nonresident students admitted last year also were admitted to an Ivy League or a top 20 private university. These students are extremely sensitive to increases in price. Research recently completed by the Art & Science Group, a leading higher-education consulting firm, indicates that the 12.3 percent increase would lead to a decrease in nonresident applications of 9 percent and a decrease in nonresident enrollments of 18 percent. Although Carolina can fill the vacant seats with other nonresident students, the new students we welcome will not be as strong as the students Carolina loses.
This loss of nonresident talent will make it harder to recruit the strongest students from North Carolina, whose enrollment decisions are driven by their perception of their future classmates. When top resident students decline their offer of admission from Carolina, they are as likely to leave North Carolina for college as they are to stay. Rather than lose these students to other states, we should strive to keep them at home — and one crucial strategy for keeping them at home is to enroll the nonresident students with whom they wish to study.
The GAA’s Tar Heel network encourages all readers to contact state senators and representatives and urge them to reverse the excessive out-of-state tuition increases and provide that all tuition revenue remain on the campus to benefit the students who are providing the added funds. Unlike the universities of Michigan and Virginia, where out-of-state undergraduate enrollment exceeds 30 percent, for nearly 30 years UNC System schools (except the School of the Arts) have been limited by policies of the UNC System Board of Governors to 18 percent out-of-state enrollment in the first-year class. All entering first-year UNC undergraduates benefit when those out-of-state students are the brightest and most gifted Carolina can attract.
Yours at Carolina,
Douglas S. Dibbert ’70
