Trustees pass 5.2 percent tuition hike

UNC's Board of Trustees voted unanimously this morning in favor of a 5.2 percent tuition increase for all undergraduate students, bringing to a close campus discussions of the proposed hike. The proposal will now go to UNC-system President Erskine Bowles for approval.

The board sided with Chancellor Holden Thorp’s recommendation, although many members voiced concerns about the impact of the University’s comparatively low tuition rates on the quality of education the school can provide in the future.

“I am really, really concerned about what we’re doing with tuition,” said John Ellison, who has served as a trustee since 2003. “There is a huge disparity between our tuition and that of our peers. It’s getting wider and wider.”

Ellison warned members that they would have to seriously reconsider the University’s low tuition rates in the future.

“I understand it’s a difficult year, but I am telling you all that this University is not going to maintain its academic standing in the world if we continue down the path we keep going down,” he said.

If approved by Bowles, the Board of Governors and the N.C. state legislature, the proposal would increase resident tuition by $200, as mandated by the state legislature. For non-residents, undergraduate tuition would increase by $1,127, and graduate tuition would go up $732.

Several students attended the meeting to protest the hikes. Out-of-State Student Association President Ryan Morgan urged members to approve the 5.2 percent increase and reject earlier proposals that would have charged out-of-state students at a greater rate than in-state students.

“I urge you to be considerate of the needs of non-resident students,” he said.

Senior Rakhee Devasthali, who tried to speak at Wednesday’s audit and finance committee meeting, also addressed the trustees, chastising them for a tuition process that she said lacked transparency and student input.

“You better come up with some better numbers,” she said. “This is not fair or democratic. You’re running these things like it’s a corporation, not like a University.”