Rising costs of higher education pricing some NC students out of system
Published December 1, 2014
Editorial by Wilmington Star-News, November 30, 2014.
After a short reprieve from tuition hikes, students at the University of North Carolina will pay more next year and the year after. The interim chancellor called the proposed increase "modest." But that "modest" increase is significant to students and their families struggling to pay ever-increasing college costs. Since fall 2010, UNCW undergraduate tuition has risen nearly 33 percent.
Many of the increases students are seeing are being fueled by cuts in state funding for higher education. The recession is over, but our acclaimed public universities are still being squeezed. The academic scandal that hit the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a major black eye, but is not representative of the quality that North Carolina's public universities strive to achieve. However, if cuts are allowed to gnaw away at classes and positions, the reputation of the UNC system eventually will suffer.
North Carolina's flagship university is known as "the university of the people." Its mission is to provide a quality college education to the state's residents, and it has been doing just that since the institution opened in 1795. The system has since expanded to include 17 campuses, including UNCW. These institutions have educated many young men and women who used their acquired knowledge and skills to help better the state.
By making cuts and raising prices, we also are mortgaging our future by making that education less accessible for at least some people. Our state constitution makes it clear that affordability is a priority in higher education:
"The General Assembly shall provide that the benefits of The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense."
No matter how you slice it, $4,026 a year – not counting student fees – is far from free.
To be sure, UNCW is among the most affordable in the state system, and it has developed a strong reputation for academic quality as well. Financial aid can help, but it is not sufficient to help all who need it. Our universities are still considered a best buy in higher education circles; tuition is low compared with other states with comparable systems. But so is family income. A recent report noted that middle-class families are now bringing home less than they did in 2007, before the great recession hit. Inflation may have been low, but prices rose nevertheless. Each time tuition goes up, some students are priced out of the university they wanted to attend.
State lawmakers have put university trustees and the UNC Board of Governors in the uncomfortable position of choosing between two undesirables: raise tuition, or make even deeper cuts.
North Carolina's universities must remain within reach of students who aspire to an education that enriches them as people and as citizens, not just as workers, because those individuals also enrich our state.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20141130/ARTICLES/141139985/1108/editorial?template=printart
December 1, 2014 at 9:19 am
Richard Bunce says:
Cuts or "cuts"? Not increasing at some desired rate is not a cut. The thing rising faster than medical costs over the last few decades is post secondary education. Cost of text books for instance is insane and largely fueled by the Universities professors.
December 1, 2014 at 7:24 pm
Norm Kelly says:
There are a few words that are important in our Constitution to keep in mind when it comes to higher education. 'as far as practicable'. The state and/or it's taxpayers should not be put in hardship situations in order to maintain a free education. These four words mean that some cost is anticipated. And we also must keep in mind that those who wrote the Constitution had NO IDEA the cost of a college degree would be so expensive. There was no way the writers could have anticipated paying 'professors' marvelous salaries while expecting they were part time teachers. They didn't anticipate that the ex-governors wife would be offered a part-time position making over 200,000 dollars per year! When the system has that much money to blow on a part-time 'teacher' then the system has too much money!
Let's also remember who is in charge of higher education. Typically, libs outnumber conservatives. OK. So I was stretching the truth there. Appealing to libs. Can we count with just one hand the number of conservatives that help run the university system in NC? Who makes the decision to employ 'professors' who only teach part time? Who makes the decision that there's a 'professor' on staff, but an aide teaches the class? If the professor isn't in the classroom teaching then the professor is simply overhead. If the professor is doing part time work, the professor should be getting part time pay.
There are some major areas that need to be dealt with concerning higher education. Most of it starts with the management of the system. Some of it has to do with classroom management. Much of it has to do with managing money poorly. Or not at all. And student fees are getting completely out of hand.
Do out of state students pay the actual cost of higher education in NC state colleges and universities? Or do tax payers subsidize out of state students as well?
Are illegal aliens allowed to enroll in NC state colleges & universities? If so, are they charged out of state tuition rates? If they pay in state tuition rates, how is this justified? If out of state American citizens pay out of state tuition rates, then illegal aliens shouldn't be allowed in the school until & unless there are NO American citizens that apply. And then illegal aliens MUST pay out-of-state tuition rates that charge the actual cost of the degree, not subsidized by taxpayers!
