UNC Wilmington tuition likely to rise for 2010-11, the question is how much
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-12-24 16:10:52 | Word Count: 434
The University of North Carolina Wilmington Board of Trustees passed a request for a 2 percent tuition increase at a meeting Friday, the lowest requested tuition increase of any UNC system school so far this year.
Half of the proposed increases would go to student financial aid, while the other half would be put toward academics and student support. The school could have requested up to a 6.5 percent increase.
[ advertisement ]
UNCW Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo said it was a difficult decision. She stressed that the university needs income, but that the decision was made to minimize the amount that students would have to shoulder that burden.
“The message we send is where the burden of education should fall, and it should not fall on these students,” DePaolo said.
Room rates would also go up 2 percent, but board rates would stay the same. Also boosting costs is legislation requiring all students to have health insurance, which would cost about 10-15 percent of students an additional $700.
The request will go before the UNC Board of Governors in January, but the board is not expected to act on it until its February meeting, according to assistant to the chancellor Mark Lanier.
There are a few complicating factors. Currently, the state has pending legislation that would levy an 8 percent or $200 tuition increase on public university students statewide, all of which would go to the state government. If that stands, public universities will not be allowed to levy tuition increases of their own.
To account for that, UNCW staff presented two possible financial outcomes for next school year, one with their requested 2 percent tuition increase and one with the state’s versionIf the 2 percent increase passes, tuition for in-state students will only go up by $52 for a total $2,617 per academic year. That would be an overall 8.9 percent hike in student financial commitment for those who needed school health insurance, and a 3.1 percent increase for the rest.
If the state’s tuition plan stays put, in-state students would see their tuition rise by $200, with an overall increase of 10.2 percent for students who needed health insurance, 4.4 percent increase for the rest.
