UNC, NC State seek tuition hikes ahead of expected state budget cuts

Incoming undergraduate students at UNC-Chapel Hill could see a tuition and fee increase beginning next year, for the first time in nearly a decade.

North Carolina State University is also proposing tuition increases for all of its students as public universities deal with expected budget cuts from North Carolina lawmakers.

The UNC board of trustees will meet this week to consider a proposal to raise tuition for resident undergraduate students by 3%, the maximum allowable under state law. The change would go into effect for the class that matriculates in 2026. Current students wouldn’t see a tuition increase.

The 3% increase would raise tuition by $211 per year at UNC. Along with a proposed $53 fee increase for a new recreation and wellness center, UNC resident undergrads would pay $9,360 in tuition and fees per year.

Resident undergraduate tuition at UNC-Chapel Hill has been flat since the fall of 2017 as it has at other public schools in the UNC System. The university is routinely ranked among the best values among public universities in the nation.

State lawmakers considered large cuts to higher education funding last year during their stalled budget process and pushed for universities to consider tuition increases. 

At least one trustee is against the idea.

"I'm opposed to the tuition increase on in-state students," trustee Jim Blaine told WRAL.

The proposal includes a 10% increase for non-resident tuition. If approved, nonresident undergraduates would pay $49,601 in tuition and fees. UNC would still rank behind peer institutions such as the flagship public universities in Michigan, Virginia and California. But the Increase would put UNC higher than Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and others.

The proposal wouldn’t increase tuition for graduate students, but it seeks to include increases for students in the schools of government, law and pharmacy.

The proposal includes a 7% increase for fees for residential halls and an average 3.9% increase for meal plans.

The trustees will consider the increases at Wednesday’s budget, finance and infrastructure committee. The full board meets Thursday in Chapel Hill.

If approved by the trustees, the tuition and fee rates would be submitted to the UNC System Board of Governors for review and approval early next year. The Board of Governors oversee all of the state’s public universities. But tuition decisions are made on a campus-by-campus basis.

In 2024, UNC-Chapel Hill began covering out-of-pocket tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduate students whose families make less than $80,000 per year and have typical assets.

NC State University’s board of trustees also meets Thursday and Friday, and it will consider a 3% across-the-board tuition increase on all students — undergraduate and graduate, resident and nonresident. Current resident undergrads wouldn’t be impacted. Tuition would rise by $196 per year for the incoming cohort of resident undergraduates.

The tuition increases for all students would generate an additional $7.7 million with most of the money going toward improved quality and accessibility, according to the university.