Dear Board of Governors,

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provides out-of-state students with an excellent education at a competitive price; the yearly cost, though expensive, is much less than that of other top public schools. However, this gap in tuition between UNC and other top publics grows smaller every year as out-of-state tuition increases, often substantially.

Moreover, there is no way to predict how much tuition will rise. An out-of-state student could potentially graduate after four years at UNC paying up to $4,000 more in yearly tuition his senior year than his freshman year—a substantial increase, especially considering that out-of-state tuition is already high. Many students do not consider these drastic increases when they choose to attend UNC, and large tuition increases undoubtedly place a financial strain on many out-of-state families.

As out-of-state students at Carolina, we understand that tuition increases are necessary to remain competitive with other top schools and to improve upon our already-impressive campus and resources. However, we do not feel that it is reasonable to substantially increase out-of-state tuition without some method of predictability.

Whether it is frozen tuition for all four years of a student’s career or a cap on the amount of increases allowed over a four-year period, we want a policy in place that will allow for more thorough financial planning by out-of-state families and students and will alleviate many concerns with regard to tuition increases. Thank you for your time, and please consider these issues as you make your final tuition decisions for the upcoming school year.