The power shift in the General Assembly has the folks who run public universities nervous.
The Republican takeover brings with it some uncertainty. How will the new legislature view the university's budget request? Will it provide full funding for enrollment growth?
And another key concern: What will legislators opt to do with revenue gleaned from tuition increases?
That's a big issue on campuses, which are lobbying hard already to keep that revenue. In what has become an annual battle, some legislators would prefer to take that pot of money away and stash it in the state's General Fund, to help ease the budget deficit.
In today's story on tuition and fee increase proposals, State Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, chimes in with words UNC officials will likely be pleased to year.
Berger, expected to take over leadership in the State Senate in 2011, told me yesterday he thinks campuses should keep the revenue.
"If we're talking about increasing tuition, that should stay on campuses rather than going into the General Fund," he said. "I don't think you should be using tuition as a tax substitute."
