WSSU's 31% fee increase rejected
www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/feb/14/wssus-31...rejected/news-local/
By James Romoser | Journal ReporterRALEIGH - Winston-Salem State University was dealt another setback yesterday in its bid to join Division I athletics.
The university wanted to substantially raise the athletics fee that students pay to raise money for more scholarships, more coaches and other requirements of Division I.
But the fee increase was rejected by the UNC board of governors, which met to approve tuition and fees at all 16 campuses in the UNC system.
The board approved tuition and fee increases that were generally smaller than what most schools had requested. Overall, average in-state tuition and fees for undergraduates in the UNC system will go up 3.9 percent, or $162, in the school year that will begin this fall. Specific increases vary from school to school. (See chart, Page A7.) Those rates still must be approved by the General Assembly
Erskine Bowles, the president of the UNC system, said that it is especially important to avoid dramatic tuition increases during a recession.
"In these times, it's really hard to raise tuition, because we know that families are suffering, that they're hurting, and we want to keep this university accessible and affordable," Bowles said.
At WSSU, in-state tuition will go up by 4 percent, to $1,769 for a full-time undergraduate. The athletics fee, however, will remain the same, at $579 for a full-time student -- and that will make it difficult for the school to close a $1.5 million deficit in its athletics budget. If the school can't raise money for athletics some other way, it will be much tougher for the school to meet the standards that the NCAA requires of Division I programs.
"That question of moving on to Division I is still up in the air," WSSU Chancellor Donald Reaves said in an interview yesterday. "It was a big percentage of the funding that's needed to close the gap, and without it, it will be difficult."
WSSU is in its third year of a complicated transition that is supposed to end in 2011 with the university joining the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. It is currently classified as a Division II program.
WSSU officials had proposed keeping tuition the same in 2009-10 but raising the athletics fee by 31 percent. If that proposal had been approved, the athletics fee would have been $760 for each full-time student, the highest in the UNC system.
But Bowles and the board balked at WSSU's proposal, saying that the increase was too steep. Rather, the board approved a tuition increase, money that will go mainly toward financial aid and academics, rather than athletics.
Hannah Gage, the chairwoman of the board of governors, said that the board did not want to hurt the school's efforts to join Division I but system leaders felt that it was more important to raise extra money for academics.
"I think there's been some discussion about whether this was about one division or another division. It wasn't about that at all,'' Gage said. "It was just about the reality that the extents of the athletic program were such that it would have eclipsed the academic commitment."
Reaves said that the school will now take a few months to explore other options to raise more money for its athletics program. For instance, it could try to expand fundraising from alumni.
Reaves also said that the school will continue to examine the pros and cons of joining Division I, a process that was put in place before he became chancellor. "The belief was that it will be beneficial to the university," he said. Asked if he shared that belief, Reaves said, "I don't know.
"The jury's out," he said. "There are pros and cons to everything, and everything comes with a cost, and you've got to decide if you think it's worth it.… I really want to go through a legitimate, open, healthy, hardy discussion about this."
■ James Romoser can be reached at 919-210-6794 or at jromoser@wsjournal.com.
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Tuition increases
Leaders of the UNC system approved yesterday an average 3.9 percent increase of in-state undergraduate tuition and fees at its 16 campuses:
■ Winston-Salem State University: 4 percent, from $3,338 to $3,471.
■ UNC School of the Arts: 4.2 percent, from $5,015 to $5,227.
■ Appalachian State University: 3.5 percent, from $4,274 to $4,424.
■ UNC Chapel Hill: 4.4 percent from $5,228 to $5,456.
■ N.C. State University: 4.9 percent, from $5,143 to $5,396.
■ UNC Greensboro: 2.5 percent, from $4,084 to $4,186.
■ N.C. A&T University: 2.5 percent, from $3,512 to $3,600.
■ Western Carolina University: 3.1 percent, from $4,085 to $4,214.
■ East Carolina University: 1.7 percent, from $4,149 to $4,220.
■ UNC Charlotte: 3.1 percent, from $4,226 to $4,356.
■ N.C. Central University: 3.5 percent, from $3,729 to $3,861.
■ UNC Pembroke: 3.6 percent, from $3,527 to $3,655.
■ UNC Asheville: 3.7 percent, from $4,174 to $4,329.
■ Elizabeth City State University: 3.8 percent, from $2,920 to $3,031.
■ Fayetteville State University: 4.4 percent, from $3,020 to $3,152.
■ UNC Wilmington: 9.7 percent, from $4,441 to $4,873.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS