This year’s House budget proposal of $13 billion includes tremendous gains for higher education, including millions more for community colleges. The full House is expected to vote on the budget this week.
St. Augustine’s College of North Carolina made national headlines last week when it announced the firing of admissions director, Keith M. Powell. The announcement prompted the resignation of the entire admissions staff, except for a counselor who was on vacation until Monday, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on March 11. Graham Watt, executive assistant to the president, said that the decline in enrollment at St. Augustine’s did not factor into the decision to fire Powell. Watt told The News and Observer on March 9 that the decision was part of a larger effort to make the college more efficient: “We talked about it as an administrative team…. It brings the whole process together. It just works better when you have people not bumping into each other and working in harmony.”
Members of the State Board of Community Colleges met today to begin developing a proposal for financing capital needs at the state’s community college campuses. The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) announced last Friday that they would partner with UNC to create a funding package that would address both systems’ capital needs.
An estimated 12.5 cents out of every $1 increase in tuition goes to pay for compliance with federal regulations.
