Proposed HBCU tuition cuts draw criticism in NC
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/05/18/proposed-hbcu-tuition-cuts-draw-criticism-north-carolina
A North Carolina bill that would slash tuition at five state universities is drawing fire from critics who fear it heavily targets historically black institutions finances and identities.
The stated intention of the bill, Senate Bill 873, is to make public education more affordable in North Carolina, a state that has in recent years squeezed budgets at its well-known university system and moved to emphasize community college as a way to cut costs. But while portions of the bill would affect all of the states public universities, its generating significant controversy for measures directly aimed at Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Winston-Salem State University and Western Carolina University. The bill does not mention two other public North Carolina HBCUs, North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central Universities.
Three of the named universities, Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State, are historically black colleges and universities. The fourth, UNC Pembroke, was founded in the late 1800s to train American Indian teachers and today enrolls a large number of African-American and American Indian students.
A pair of measures specifically affect the five universities in question. The first would require them to slash tuition in 2018, down to $500 a semester for in-state students and $2,500 for out-of-state students. The other would call on the UNC board of to consider removing the states 18 percent cap on out-of-state students for the five institutions named in the bill. The board would be allowed to change or eliminate that cap if it determines doing so would increase the number, academic strength and diversity of student applications at the universities.