For the fifth year in a row students at N.C. Central University can expect an increase in tuition and fees. The 8.5 percent increase was approved by the University of North Carolina System's Board of Governors earlier this month and applies to all 16 universities in the system.
The 8.8 percent average increase system-wide is slightly below the national average of 8.3 percent for the 2011-12 school year.
Next Fall an undergraduate student at NCCU will see a nearly $400, or 8.5 percent, increase in tuition and fees.
"I feel like it's a little bit too much, because it's (tuition) already high," said criminal justice sophomore Jasmine Johnson.
UNC System President Thomas Ross' plan was backed by the University of North Carolina Association of Student Governments. Atul Bhula, president of the UNCASG, says the tuition plan Ross proposed was more fair than the one campus Boards of Trustees recommended.
"If you take the average of the two years for in-state undergraduate students it stays in the range of the second four-year plan, which was adopted by the UNC Board of Governors in November 2010," Bhula told the Echo in an email Monday.
An additional system-wide average increase of 4.2 percent is expected for the 2013-14 school year. "President Ross and the UNC Board of Governors are in the middle of a rock and a hard place.
We believe that the president looked at tuition and fees closely to come up with these numbers in a time where we have seen budget cuts by the NC General Assembly and enrollment staying around the same," said Bhula.
In a Durham Herald-Sun column Chancellor Charlie Nelms cited the increase as a measure to meet the needs of students.
"NCCU's proposed increase in tuition and fees will assist the university in fulfilling its mission to serve the needs of its students and through their achievement, all of North Carolina's citizens," said Nelms.
Article IX, Section 9 of the Constitution of North Carolina states "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."
Bhula feels it is imperative for the NC General Assembly to uphold the article in the Constitution. "I believe that it is important for the NC General Assembly to uphold Article IX, Section 9 of the NC Constitution by providing the necessary funding to the University of North Carolina and the students it serves to preserve the accessibility and affordability to a quality higher education."
As a result of rising tuition and fees student loan debt has increased in recent years. According to the latest figures from The Project on Student Debt, college seniors who graduated in 2010 carried an average of $25,250 in student loan debt, while students in North Carolina left with an average debt of $20,959.
Political science junior Shereka Banks calls tuition increases "ridiculous." "I think we should be able to use our degrees doing pro bono work to decrease our debt," said Banks.
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