Perdue budget: protect higher ed

An early look at Gov. Beverly Perdue's budget proposal, which rolls out today, suggests she wants to protect higher education to some extent.

As Michael Biesecker reports over at our Under the Dome blog, the governor doesn't include university workers in a series of proposed job eliminations.

She proposes modest increases to the UNC system for enrollment increases but concedes a tuition hike of some level is likely necessary.

She has also proposed a new N.C. Career and College Promise, that would provide two years of tuition-free college credit to state high school students who keep high grades and maintain other standards.