Tuition and fees to shoot up 3 percent

By Abbigail Overfelt
News Editor
Asst. Web Editor

According to Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Charles Harrington, the University and the Board of Trustees requested a 3 percent increase to both tuition and fees for the 2008-2009 academic year. This request was approved by the University system Board of Governors.

Dr. Harrington said that each year, the General Administration provides each state public university with a set of guidelines for requesting increases in tuition and student fees.

“The University of North Carolina at Pembroke has always sought to keep our tuition and fee structure among the lowest in the state,” Dr. Harrington said.

“This year was no different. Although we could have asked for as much as 6 percent, we chose only to ask for 3 percent,” he said.
According to Harrington, the reasons for the rise in tuition included increasing faculty salaries and financial aid.

“In my request for a CBTI (Campus Based Tuition Increase), I promised General Administration that 25 percent of the increase would be directed toward increasing faculty salaries so that our salaries are comparable to those of our peers, 25 percent would be earmarked for hold-harmless student financial aid, and the other 50 percent used for academic program enhancement,” Dr. Harrington said.

According to Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Diane Jones, a 3 percent increase will add $58 to current resident undergraduate tuition and $43 to student fees.

According to Dr. Jones, the additional increase in student fees will be distributed between athletics, health services, student activities, education and technology.