NC State to pass final vote on tuition hike for incoming students, 1st in-state increase in 9 years

North Carolina State University leaders on Thursday approved a motion to raise tuition for in-state and out-of-state students. 

NC State's Board of Trustees is scheduled to officially vote on the plan Friday.

The university's Affairs Committee unanimously approved the raising of tuition for all incoming students by 3%. Chancellor Kevin Howell said this increase is the university's first in nine years for in-state undergraduate students.

A university representative confirmed that only current undergraduates will not see increases in tuition due to a fixed tuition program. However, she added that tuition hikes take months to implement even if it passes the Board of Trustees. 

Broken down by actual price increase, the incoming class of undergraduate in-state students will see a tuition raise of $196. Undergraduate out-of-state students will see a $945 increase.

Graduate in-state students will see a $307 increase and out-of-state students will see a $946 increase.

Howell said these increases will allow the university to recruit and retain world-class faculty and help support their students while remaining affordable and accessible, especially for in-state students.

The committee also approved a motion for fee increases on housing, dining rates, student government and their transit buses. 

Watch: UNC approves tuition hike, NC State recommending one: How to cut costs to attend college

This vote comes hours after UNC-Chapel Hill's Board of Trustees narrowly approved a 3% tuition increase, one day after a board committee shot down the idea and asked instead for an increase on out-of-state graduate students. Thursday's vote was 6-5, as four members of the board weren't present.

The board also approved increases for fees (3%), housing (7%) and meal plans (an average of 3.9%), as well as out-of-state undergraduates (10%) and several graduate programs.

Schools in the UNC System, including UNC, haven’t raised tuition on in-state undergraduate students since the fall of 2017. The UNC Board of Governors, for the first time since that hike, is allowing the boards at UNC System schools to consider a tuition increase.

No matter what the university trustees ultimately decide to do regarding tuition, it might not be the last word. The board of governors oversees all the schools in the UNC System. And Republican lawmakers in the state House and Senate voted earlier this year on dueling budget proposals to hike tuition and force spending cuts at nearly every UNC System university, including Chapel Hill. Those plans are on hold as the legislature has failed to pass a new state budget.