UNC System to consider $49M in tuition hikes across state universities

North Carolina’s public universities would increase in-state undergraduate tuition by an average of $125 per year and out-of-state undergraduate tuition by nearly $1,000 per student under proposals to be considered by the UNC System’s Board of Governors next week.

There are 16 schools in the UNC System, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh. The universities will generate $49 million in additional revenue from its proposed increases on undergraduate, graduate and professional school students with more than half of the additional funds coming from out-of-state undergrads.

The tuition increases come as universities are grappling with possible cuts in federal and state funding. State lawmakers didn’t pass an updated budget in 2025. UNC-Chapel Hill is making $70 million in cuts and its board just this week called for an additional $16.5 million in cuts.

To ensure higher education is accessible in North Carolina and align with the state’s constitution and law,, Board of Governors policy requires that all its universities remain in the bottom quartile in in-state undergraduate tuition when compared to their peers. And the policy requires that universities be at or above the third quartile for out-of-state undergraduate tuition.

Each university, through its trustees, approved tuition and fees for the 2026-27 academic year in December. At UNC-Chapel Hill, the vote was contentious with some trustees opposed to a 3% increase on in-state undergraduates. The UNC System hasn’t increased tuition on in-state undergrads since 2017.

Nine universities are proposing 3% increases, the largest allowed this year by the Board of Governors, for in-state undergraduates.

Appalachian State proposed a 2.5% increase, UNC-Asheville proposed a 1.5% increase, and Winston-Salem State University proposed no increase for in-state undergrads. Four universities — Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, UNC-Pembroke and Western Carolina — are part of the NC Promise program, which caps tuition at $1,000.

UNC-Chapel Hill’s $211 increase is the largest in terms of actual dollars with NC State ($196) next. UNC-Chapel Hill’s in-state undergraduate tuition for incoming students would be $7,230 under its proposal. NC State would be $6,731.

Out-of-state undergrads would see larger increases, an average of 4.3% across the system not including the NC Promise schools. UNC-Chapel Hill and Charlotte have proposed 10% increases. UNC-Chapel Hill would charge those students $47,472 in 2026-27, the highest in the system.

The four NC Promise schools will increase their tuition for out-of-state undergrads from $5,000 to $7,000, which is dictated by state law.

Tuition for in-state graduate students would increase by an average of $155 or 2.7% under the proposals. Tuition for out-of-state grad students would increase by an average of $491 or 2.4% under the proposals.

The universities are also seeking to increase mandatory fees by an average of $31 across the system, though some schools are not proposing any fee increases. 

The tuition and fee proposals will be considered by the Board of Governors’ budget and finance committee Wednesday morning. The full board will vote on the proposals at its February meetings.