Tuition hike proposed for UNC, NCCU

DURHAM -- Tuition and fees may be on the rise this week at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. Central University.

At UNC-CH, a campus task force is proposing a tuition hike of 6.4 percent for in-state undergraduates and a similar hike for out-of-state students. This year, in-state undergrads pay $5,396 in tuition and fees.

Revenue raised would go for scholarships, faculty pay raises, graduate student pay and academic support services. UNC-CH's Board of Trustees will take up the issue Thursday.

At NCCU, campus leaders are proposing a hike of 3.1 percent for undergraduate tuition and to increase fees by more than 6 percent as well. Taken together, that would mean a total increase of 4.3 percent for NCCU students next year.

Campus leaders say the tuition and fee hikes are necessary in order to raise revenue for need-based financial aid, faculty pay raises, and other student support measures. In-state tuition this year at NCCU is $2152.95.

The undergraduate tuition hike alone would raise more than $530,000 and would be the first such increase in three years. In addition, the proposal calls for a 6.5 percent hike in graduate student tuition, to generate an additional $510,000.

Kent Williams Jr., NCCU's student body president, said the tuition hikes are painful but necessary, a mantra he said has been drilled into the heads of students at recent campus forums.

"I hate that this is happening, but I think students have responded well to it," Williams said. "None of us want it but at the same time we understand why."

Some of the revenue raised would pay for extra academic advisors and other measures designed to help lagging retention rates. The NCCU board votes Wednesday.