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by NASH DUNN
News Reporter
Undergraduate tuition and fee costs are up 3.4 percent, or $150, at Appalachian State University for the 2009-10 year, slipping under the national upswing of 6.5 percent, or $429, according to a report from The College Board released Oct. 20.
Graduate tuition and fee costs also increased, climbing 4.3 percent from last year’s prices.
Of the 16 state universities in North Carolina, 15 raised tuition and fees costs, including North Carolina State University (4.7 percent), East Carolina University (1.7 percent), and the University of North Carolina (4.1 percent), according to northcarolina.edu statistics on tuition and fees.
Tim H. Burwell,
vice provost of Resource Management at Appalachian, said the increase
was campus-initiated and to be used for promotion stipends for faculty,
graduate student assistantship support and positions to be funded.
“When we
request to increase tuition, we have to identify what the usage of
those receipts will be,” Burwell said. “Over the last several years
running, the burden has been placed on campus-initiated requests.”
In
addition to being campus-initiated, tuition and fees increases can come
from the North Carolina General Assembly and University of North
Carolina Board of Governors.
Unless
lobbied, the General Assembly will enact an 8 percent, or $200, tuition
increase in the legislative component for the 2010-11 year, Burwell
said.
Because
tuition increases have coincided with economic struggle, the percentage
of students applying and using federal financial aid compared to
private loans has soared.
In 2008-09, 68 percent of undergraduate aid came from a federal source while 6 percent used private sources, according to The College Board.
By Board
of Governors policy, campus-initiated tuition and fee increases require
25 percent of funds to be set aside for financial aid.
Erskine
B. Bowles, University of North Carolina president, has requested 50
percent of funds be set aside for aid in all requests made for the
2010-11 year.
The
Board of Governors will meet again early 2010, where both the General
Assembly’s proposed increase and Bowles’ financial aid request will be
further discussed.
Whitney R. Nanney, junior biology major, uses federal loans to pay for school, and feels they provide more benefits.
“The
interest rates are a lot lower and you can choose to pay interest now,”
Nanney said. “You [also] have a six month grace period from the time
you have to start paying it back.”
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