FILED SENATE
Apr 6, 2021
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
S.B. 578
SESSION 2021 PRINCIPAL CLERK
S D
SENATE BILL DRS45318-MKa-134
Short Title: Study on Fixed In-State Tuition Plan for UNC. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Murdock, Waddell, and Crawford (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO STUDY THE IMPACT OF ESTABLISHING A REDUCED FIXED
3 FOUR-YEAR TUITION PLAN FOR CONSTITUENT INSTITUTIONS OF THE
4 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO
5 CONDUCT THE STUDY.
6 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
7 SECTION 1.(a) The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina
8 State University (the Friday Institute) shall conduct a study of the impact of establishing an
9 in-State tuition rate for undergraduate students at the constituent institutions of The University
10 of North Carolina, other than the institutions participating in the NC Promise Tuition Plan
11 established pursuant to G.S. 116-143.11, at a fixed rate of two thousand five hundred dollars
12 ($2,500) per semester for four academic years of continuous student enrollment. The Friday
13 Institute shall consider in its study at least all of the following:
14 (1) The amount of time in which The University of North Carolina could feasibly
15 transition to a reduced fixed rate tuition plan for in-State undergraduate
16 students, including whether the reduced fixed rate tuition plan could begin
17 with the 2022-2023 academic year.
18 (2) The economic impact on families and undergraduate students to have an
19 opportunity to attend a constituent institution under the plan, including
20 reduction of student loan debt and long-term financial benefits.
21 (3) The economic impact on enrollment at constituent institutions by each
22 institution and the corresponding effect on the budgets of those institutions.
23 (4) The sustainable cost for campuses that are already near or at the tuition rate of
24 two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per semester for a four-year
25 period.
26 (5) Projected obligations for State appropriations to cover the costs of reduced
27 tuition receipts and enrollment changes under the plan.
28 (6) The financial impact of a fixed fee policy where student fees remain the same
29 throughout a student's four years of enrollment at an institution on campus
30 projects and programs.
31 (7) The extent to which fees may be raised to support student services on
32 campuses.
33 SECTION 1.(b) By February 1, 2022, the Friday Institute shall report to the Senate
34 Appropriations Committee on Education/Higher Education, the House Appropriations
35 Committee on Education, the Fiscal Research Division, and the Joint Legislative Education
36 Oversight Committee on the results of the study required by subsection (a) of this section.
*DRS45318-MKa-134*
 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 SECTION 2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors
2 of The University of North Carolina the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in
3 nonrecurring funds for the 2021-2022 fiscal year to be allocated to the Friday Institute for
4 Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University to conduct the study required by
5 Section 1 of this act.
6 SECTION 3. This act becomes effective July 1, 2021.
Page 2 DRS45318-MKa-134