RALEIGH -- If you have been paying attention to the university tuition debate over the past few weeks, one word you have heard often is costs. The word you haven't heard enough about is performance.
The recent decision by the UNC system Board of Governors to raise tuition and fees on in-state students by an average of nearly 9 percent was, unfortunately, not much of a surprise. After all, the board approved an increase of 8.2 percent last year and 15.5 percent the year before. The General Assembly passed a budget with significant cuts to our universities. And not one campus chancellor or board of trustees refrained from requesting that students and families shoulder another increase.
What is surprising is that decisions about tuition and fees continue to be divorced from the performance of the institutions that collect them. In other words, the costs continue to rise no matter how well our universities do in helping students obtain degrees.
Imagine if an auto mechanic who is successful in repairing cars just one-third of the time is not only able to stay in business, but can increase prices every year. Or a doctor whose patients are misdiagnosed 25 percent of the time but is considered to be one of the best in his or her profession. We would not tolerate it. Yet we do in higher education.
Take performance in the UNC system. Let's start by agreeing that the reason students go to a university is to get a degree. Let's also agree that it's better for students - and taxpayers who support these students to the tune of more than $10,000 per year on average - if they graduate from our state-supported institutions in four years.
So what is the rate of students who enter the UNC system and graduate four years later?
Thirty-six percent. That's essentially 1 out of every 3 graduating in four years. A May 2009 report showed the highest rate across the UNC campuses was 74 percent, with the next highest at just 47 percent. Six of our campuses registered four-year rates in the teens.
Over a six-year timeframe, the statewide rate improves to 59 percent. While better, that may mean two more years of state-funded support. For students, it may mean two more years of tuition and fees - and, for many, increased debt.
Here's the bottom line: A significant percentage of the students we are asking to pay more money for their degrees will never get them.
To be fair, the graduation rate is not the only measure of institutional success, and some would suggest it doesn't offer a full enough picture. But there are no performance measures that are part of the decision to increase tuition and fees or to fund the universities, in general.
Put simply, we are asking our students to accept increased tuition, but we are not asking our universities to demonstrate increased performance.
That is just not right. It is time for North Carolina to move from being a leader in access to a leader in college completion. The UNC Board of Governors has begun this journey by implementing a plan to restrict enrollment growth at campuses not meeting performance targets.
To continue this important effort, the Board and General Assembly should take three additional steps:
Build performance into our state funding model for higher education. Today enrollment is the main driver of higher education funding. But access without success is an empty strategy. It's time to start rewarding campuses that make progress on student success.
Establish clear student success goals and hold our UNC system and campuses accountable. As the line from Alice in Wonderland goes, if you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.
Build performance measures into future tuition decisions. Send a clear message to students and taxpayers that this state stands on the side of results for students.
This problem is not confined to the borders of North Carolina. Across the country, low graduation rates are an issue. Our state is regarded rightly as a leader in access to higher education. There is no reason we cannot become a leader in student success. Committing to action and leadership on completion - and ensuring our students have the credentials and degrees they need to success in today's economy - should be a natural next step.
To those who disagree and don't believe in the need to pair performance with price, I'd be happy to serve as your mechanic the next time your car is in need of repair.
J.B. Buxton consults with state governments, foundations and nonprofits on state education strategy. He is the former deputy state superintendent of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
