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EDITORIAL: The Students' Burden: Limit Percentage of College Costs N.C. Students Pay

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Feb. 14--When the UNC Board of Governors hiked tuition and fees last week, it capped a decade of unpredictable (and steep) increases in student costs for North Carolina. That's a dangerous precedent. It ought to stop.

The most responsible way to stop it is to price tuition and fees according to this simple principle: Students should pay no more than approximately a quarter of what it costs to build and operate our state universities.

UNC system President Erskine Bowles has hinted at such a policy, and he's correct. It's a commendable and practical way to assure that citizens do not get priced out of universities they build and support.

The Board of Governors raised tuition and fees at all 16 state universities last week -- again. The lowest increase was 9 percent; the highest was 20 percent. That action comes after a one-year freeze -- and after a decade of increases that upped student costs as much as 70 percent at some universities.

The culprit? Higher education costs have risen sharply, and funding from the state legislature has not kept pace. As a result, universities have hiked tuition and fees, the only ready source of funds available.

The question posed is simple: Should North Carolina's university system be state-funded or state-supported?

The distinction is profound. In a state-funded system, universities receive the bulk of their funding from state tax dollars, and the cost to citizens is kept low. But in a state-supported system, the primary cost is paid by students, with supplemental help from state funds. North Carolina needs a state-funded university system.

The latest tuition and fee hikes force North Carolina students to pay approximately 25 percent of the cost of higher education. In a state where the per capita income is $20,307 and where only 22.5 percent of citizens have a college degree, that's more than enough.

Before next year, the state needs a fair, consistent policy on tuition and fees. That policy must accomplish three things.

-- Honor the obligation imposed by the state's constitution, which requires that the cost of college at the state's universities be kept "as close to free as is practicable."

-- Recognize that public universities are built and paid for by tax dollars, and citizens should not have to pay for them twice.

-- Provide comprehensive and reliable guidelines for increases in tuition and fees.

Keeping college affordable is important for obvious economic reasons. Yet it carries weight for other reasons.

"We do this because there is a moral obligation," Mr. Bowles said.

He's right. Limiting the burden on students should be a guiding principle of any policy on tuition approved by the Board of Governors.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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