The Duke University trustees have approved a 3.9 percent increase in the total cost of attendance (undergraduate tuition, room and board) at Duke for the 2012-13 academic year.  Undergraduate tuition will be $42,308, a 4 percent increase, and the total cost for the next academic year, including tuition, room, board and fees, will be $56,056.

Tuition at Duke is going up.

Trustees approved a 4.3 percent tuition hike for next year, which will bring the total cost of a Duke undergraduate education, if you factor in room, board and other costs, to nearly $54,000 a year.

A Duke spokesman cites a number of rising costs, like health insurance, as one reason for the university's need for additional revenue.

Duke's not alone. The UNC system is also raising its tuition rates. Officials there approved hikes averaging about 6 percent for the next academic year.

Trustees at UNC-Chapel Hill voted this morning to raise tuition 6.5 percent.

That's the maximum allowed by the UNC system. For in-state undergraduates, it's another $313 a year on the tuition bill.

With the increase, in-state tuition and fees next year would total $7,025. That doesn't include room, board, books and other expenses.

Carolina is one of a number of public universities setting tuition rates this week. They do so against a backdrop of some uncertainty, given the state's ongoing budget mess and a change in leadership within the General Assembly.

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University leaders at UNC-CH said this morning they'd like to keep tuition low and point out that Carolina is still less pricey than a lot of its peer institutions.

But the tuition hike this year is necessary, Chancellor Holden Thorp said. The university will glean about $15 million from the tuition increases, to be used for student aid and to provide academic resources.

"You have to be realistic about the environment we're in," he told trustees. "Tuition revenue is one of the only sources of funding to deal with the challenges we face."

UNC system leaders this morning will take a look at a policy put in place four years ago that attempted to provide some consistency and predictability to tuition and fee pricing.

The four-year tuition plan, one of UNC President Erskine Bowles' early initiatives, set specific parameters by which campuses could increase tuition and fees, the intent being to keep those rate hikes relatively consistent so students would have a sense of what they'd be paying from year to year.

It worked pretty well until this year, when the lagging economy and the state's need for revenue blew it all up. The state legislature earlier this summer allowed campuses to request tuition hikes of up to $750, which, in percentage terms, meant double-digit increases for many public university students.

Up until then, the policy had kept tuition and fee hikes to 6.5 percent, maximum, in a given year.

The policy was intended as a four-year plan, after which time a review was to be done to see how it worked.

Check back here later Thursday and read Friday's News & Observer for more.

That's what will happen today when the UNC system's Board of Governors meets.

As you may have read in today's paper, tuition bills are headed to public university students this week, and they may be a good bit larger than many anticipate.

That's thanks to a supplemental tuition hike signed off on just last week by UNC system President Erskine Bowles. University leaders are raising tuition very reluctantly, and say it's the sole source of revenue critical to the day-to-day academic operations of the campuses.

Though parents may not see it this way, the UNC system remains a good deal when compared with other public institutions. And it is that comparison that campus officials at UNC-Chapel Hill were trumpeting this week.

Speaking to campus trustees, Carolina Provost Bruce Carney pointed out that, even with a sizable increase, tuition and fees at UNC-CH this fall will be $6,665 for undergraduate North Carolinians.

Here's how that compares with the university's public peers. This is what many of the public institutions with which Carolina most often compares itself charges for their own in-state undergraduates.

• Virginia - $10,808
• Michigan - $11,837
• UCLA - $10,781
• Texas - $8,618
• Florida - $5,020
• Wisconsin - $9,050

"We remain a very competitive deal," Carney concluded. "We're still an incredible bargain."

It's good information and an interesting look at how costly comparable institutions can be. But does it matter to students and parents?

Here's the thing: Virginia's in-state tuition rate doesn't matter to a high school senior in North Carolina because he or she would pay the out-of-state rate to go to school in Charlottesville.

That's $33,774 annually, so if a North Carolinian was choosing between Carolina and Virginia and cost was a key in the decision, Chapel Hill would probably be the winning destination.

And those public peer institutions aren't necessarily the top competitors for the students also considering Carolina, said Stephen Farmer, UNC-CH's director of undergraduate admissions.

In fact, talented North Carolinians considering UNC often also consider several private institutions in North Carolina like Duke, Davidson and Wake Forest, Farmer said. Others, like N.C. State, Virginia, Appalachian State and UNC-Wilmington, are often in the mix as well.

Farmer doesn't expect Carolina's tuition hike to have a significant impact in terms of how many applications come across his desk.

"Tuition is so low for North Carolinians, we'd have to increase increase tuition a ton to really affect a kid's decision to apply or enroll," he said.

As you may have heard, tuition is going up in 2010-11 for public university students.

At UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State, rates will rise $750, while at N.C. Central University, tuition goes up $435. These increases are on top of smaller cuts approved in February that vary by campus but are as much as $200 for UNC-CH students and $150 for NCSU students. That means students on the Chapel Hill campus will pay $950 more in the fall, and NCSU students will pay $900 more.

Across the system, the average increase is $444, according to a statement released this morning by UNC President Erskine Bowles' office.

Here's the text of the statement:

After consultation with the chancellors and UNC Board of Governors, UNC President Erskine Bowles today approved campus requests for supplemental tuition increases for the 2010-11 academic year. These supplemental increases—authorized by a special provision in the 2010-11 state budget and averaging $444 per year—will be used to help offset the impact of state budget cuts and protect academic quality.

These increases are in addition to tuition and fee changes for 2010-11 previously approved by the UNC Board of Governors. As a result, in-state undergraduates will see an average 15.5% increase in tuition and required fees for the coming year. On every UNC campus, at least half of the revenues from the initial tuition increase and 20% of revenues from the supplemental increase will be targeted to need-based financial aid. [Summaries of tuition and fee changes for all UNC campuses (also attached) have been posted on the University of North Carolina website at www.northcarolina.edu.]

Even as the University has absorbed budget cuts totaling $575 million over the past three years, UNC campuses have attempted to sustain academic quality and to keep tuition as low as practicable. On every UNC campus, tuition and fee rates for North Carolinians are either the lowest or next to the lowest among public peer institutions.

Over the past three years, tuition for in-state undergraduates has increased, on average, by 5.2%, 1.2%, and 2.8%, respectively. These increases were very low when compared to any other university system in the nation. Even with the increases approved today, tuition and fees on every UNC campus will remain in the bottom quarter of its public peers.

In an effort to shield academic instruction from the impact of repeated budget cuts, the University cut administrative expenses last year by 23%, abolished nearly 900 administrative positions, froze salaries, and redoubled efforts to raise external funds. UNC campuses now face another $142 million in cuts to their operating budgets and have largely exhausted their ability to absorb additional administrative cuts.

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To help the University protect the quality of a UNC education, the 2010 NC General Assembly authorized each UNC campus—subject to the President’s approval—to implement a supplemental tuition increase of up to $750 to help offset the impact of state budget cuts. Supplemental increases approved today range from $250 to $750; five UNC campuses have opted to phase in the increase over two years. All revenues generated must be used to protect academic quality and provide need-based financial aid.
 

Students at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State will pay $750 more in tuition in 2010-11 under a plan okayed this week.

UNC system President Erskine Bowles today unveiled a tuition hike plan intended to allow public university campuses to raise revenue to counter legislatively mandated cuts to their budgets.

What it means: At UNC-CH and NCSU, all students will pay $750 more next year. At N.C. Central University in Durham, tuition will go up $435.

Bowles and other university officials say the tuition hikes are the best of a series of bad options to raise the money needed to stave off the elimination of instructors and class sections and other potential cuts to the academic experience.

These increases are dramatic; at UNC-CH, this year's $4,066 tuition for in-state undergraduates will rise 18 percent, a far larger jump than is customary in a state that has long treasured the notion of an affordable education at a state university.

But university officials say the UNC system is still a good deal; all campuses are still in the lowest quarter, in terms of tuition rates, when compared to their public peer institutions.

For more, read Wednesday's News & Observer.

The UNC system's governing board meets Tuesday to talk about tuition hikes for this fall at public universities. But unlike most of the times when the board deliberates over tuition hikes, it will wield no real power.

The General Assembly, in a special provision tucked into the recently-approved state budget, allowed campuses to increase tuition by as much as $750 as a way of mitigating their portions of a $70 million cut to the UNC system's budget.

But according to the language of the provision, those tuition hikes need only UNC system President Erskine Bowles' approval, not the usual "yes" vote from the governing board.

Still, Bowles and the campuses are expected to brief board members Tuesday on whether they want to raise tuition for the 2010-11 school year and if so, by how much. The $750 in extra tuition would come along with a $200 increase already approved for the coming school year.

It isn't yet clear whether all campuses want to increase tuition. Chancellors Holden Thorp at UNC-Chapel Hill and Randy Woodson at N.C. State have each said tuition hikes were likely, though it isn't yet known whether they'll seek the entire $750.

The university system received a $70 million budget cut for 2010-11, and legislators offered up the tuition hike provision as a way for campuses to raise revenue.

University officials, who prior to the state budget's approval feared a far larger cut, now face the prospect of tuition hikes as the only way to raise enough money to protect classroom instruction.

"Every part of this is distressing," said Hannah Gage, chairwoman of the UNC system's Board of Governors. "If you had told me five years ago I'd be pleased with a $70 million budget cut, I'd say you need to be committed. Is anybody excited about this? No. But the board does feel strongly that there is some [academic] quality erosion occurring. We're not doing anything extravagant. We're doing it to protect instruction."

The tuition provision could create problems for campuses. It stipulates that 20 percent of revenue raised be used for need-based financial aid. But campuses routinely hold back 30 percent or more for aid since when rates go up, more students qualify for financial assistance.
 

The school system could crack down on students who are illegally attending school in Wake.

School board members have asked that the policy committee review what steps should be taken if a student who is not living in Wake County is found to be attending school in the district without permission. Non-Wake residents are generally only in the district if they're paying tuition.

While some of you guys may scoff, there are a lot of people who live in the surrounding counties who would much rather attend school in Wake.

The Charlotte Observer has some choice words for a state law allowing some out-of-state scholarship students to count as North Carolinians.

Here's the details.