The University of North Carolina Board of Governors voted Friday to increase tuition across the state system by an average of nearly 9 percent. WHQR’s Michelle Bliss reports that UNCW students will see a 9.2 percent hike in the fall.
A fulltime, in-state undergraduate student at UNCW will pay nearly $530 more in tuition next school year.
UNCW will collect about $6.3 million in additional revenue because of the change, but spokesperson Dana Fischetti says that money doesn’t make up for the loss of state funding the school has endured.
Lawmakers cut more than $400 million from the state budget for the 16 campuses in the UNC system. UNCW lost $16.5 million, which resulted in cuts of nearly 80 faculty positions and more than 550 course sections.
Originally, UNCW’s Board of Trustees approved a 10.7 percent increase, but Chancellor Gary Miller revised that number to 9.2 percent last month. That was after UNC Board of Governors President Tom Ross asked the entire university system to reach an average increase below 9 percent.
In light of the announcement last month that UNCW completed its $65 million fundraising campaign early, Fischetti says that students and alumni have expressed concern about the tuition hike. She says that fundraising dollars are usually earmarked for specific projects like scholarships, so that money won’t cover the school’s daily operating costs.
Note: This story includes information from the Associated Press.
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