As state leaders grapple with the budget, UNC system students remain in flux. They're receiving tuition bills this month, but they may need to pay again in a month or two.

That's the crux of our story this morning, which looks at why public university tuition, set in March by the UNC system's Board of Governors, may be scrapped in favor of higher rates. 

The economy has had a dramatic effect on the college admissions and financial aid processes. Consider this example: At UNC Chapel Hill, 13 percent more students applied for aid this year than did last year. And students applied on time, suggesting they're taking the aid process more seriously. (Thanks to Shirley Ort at UNC-CH's aid office for these details.)

The pdf attached to this blog entry illustrates tuition and fee rates for 2009-10 for undergraduates at all public universities, as approved in March by the UNC system's governing board.

Other information related to tuition can be found here.

Remember, those rates can changed by the legislature; the N.C. House has already proposed doing so.

Documents:

The college admissions game is both an art and a science. Each year, admissions officers at universities start out with a target enrollment goal - the number of new students they want to enroll for the next academic year.

From that, they offer spaces to a significantly larger pool, knowing that not all students will take them up on the offer.

Sometimes they hit the goal. Sometimes they go over, sometimes they fall short. While they use data and statistical modeling to help predict the numbers, they are, of course, at the whims of 17-year-old kids who decide on colleges for reasons ranging from academic reputation to the performance of the athletic teams.

But as Jay Price reports in today's News & Observer, the ongoing economic uncertainty has added a variable to this game, and admissions officer say they may end up with too many good students.

Read all about it here.

In today's News & Observer, a story about an alternat route to a degree at UNC Chapel Hill or N.C. State for those aspiring students who don't quite make the cut right out of high school.

Community college. Increasingly, four-year colleges are joining forces with local community colleges and forging direct links that, in fact, may provide an easier route for some students to eventually get their four-year degrees.

Read all about it here.