A new leader took the helm of the University of North Carolina system during a tumultuous time. In the midst of a global pandemic, Peter Hans was elected UNC system president on June 19, 2020 and assumed the role in August. The position was previously held by interim president Bill Roper, who stepped in after … Continue reading “A Conversation with UNC System President Peter Hans”
Some new faces might be on the UNC Board of Governors this year, as 12 members’ four-year terms are set to expire. The state’s Senate and House of Representatives will each be able to fill six open positions. They may choose to reappoint or replace current members. The nomination process in the Senate is currently … Continue reading “Did You Know? The UNC BOG Nominations Process”
While annual tuition increases are the norm across higher ed, the University of North Carolina system has bucked this trend and kept tuition level for 5 years now. Though some fees have increased in recent years, the UNC system has made a commendable effort in keeping prices low for North Carolina’s students. In 2016, the … Continue reading “Did You Know? UNC System Keeps Tuition Frozen for 5th Year”
The members of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors are charged with a solemn duty: to oversee and guide the state’s public university system. Although some of their day-to-day responsibilities might seem mundane, many of the decisions they make shape the system’s standards, values, and the extent to which the university’s dual mission … Continue reading “Don’t Rock the Boat: UNC BOG Members Rarely Vote ‘Nay’”
All students enrolled in UNC system institutions are required to have health insurance coverage. They also pay a Health Services Fee to their university. According to Blue Cross Blue Shield, The UNC System endorses a cost-effective Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) that covers additional health care expenses not included in the Student Health Fee. This … Continue reading “Did You Know? North Carolina Students Pay For Health Services Twice”
Student loan debt has received more attention lately, but one aspect has been left out of the debate: parents taking on loans for their children. While undergraduate students generally can only borrow $12,500 each year, Parent PLUS loans have no such limits. This is the first year that the U.S. Department of Education has shared … Continue reading “To Fight Student Loan Debt, North Carolina Schools Need to Stop Pushing Parent PLUS Loans”
Since 2015, the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors (BOG) has endured one controversy after another, beginning with protests over decisions to close three “academic centers” for being overly political and to replace Democrat Thomas Ross as the system president with Republican Margaret Spellings. Some of the problems have been of the board’s … Continue reading “Heavy Is the Head that Wears the Crown”
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released a report decrying the politicization of public higher education governance, entitled The New Order: How the Nation’s Partisan Divisions Consumed Public-College Boards and Warped Higher Education. The report says more about the tunnel vision that pervades the liberal media and academic establishment than it does about the real … Continue reading “America Wants Its Public Colleges Back and The Chronicle Isn’t Happy About It”
It has been a very strange year. Three weeks ago I opened my email to find an unsolicited email from a lawyer, asking if I needed help. Odd, I thought, since I couldn’t remember getting any traffic citations recently. When I opened it, I discovered it was from lawyers at the Foundation for Individual Rights … Continue reading “Of Academic Freedom and False Alarms”
In 2014, the UNC Board of Governors voted to “place a 15 percent cap on the amount of tuition revenue that can be applied to need-based student financial aid.” After the announcement, parents were surprised to learn that they were “subsidizing those who qualify for aid.” Since then, the Board has been required to provide … Continue reading “Did You Know? UNC System Funds Financial Aid with Tuition Revenue”