The UNC System will get more money than it asked for in the state budget. What’s in it?
Public universities across North Carolina are getting more money than they asked for in the state budget that was signed into law Thursday.
UNC System President Peter Hans celebrated the historic higher education funding that includes raises for faculty, an online learning program focused on working adults and significant investments for construction at campuses across the system. He outlined the key aspects of the budget at a UNC System Board of Governors meeting Thursday.
Hans said the state budget is a “remarkable start on a new era, in which we will lift up our faculty and staff, broaden our educational reach, revamp our campus facilities and make education more affordable to more North Carolinians.”
What’s in the budget?
Here’s what’s in the budget for the state’s public universities:
▪ 5% salary increases for faculty and staff, which have not been given in three years, plus $1,000 or $500 bonuses.
▪ $70 million to support funding for enrollment growth at UNC System campuses.
▪ $15 million to fully fund the NC Promise program at Western Carolina University, UNC Pembroke and Elizabeth City State University that keeps tuition at $1,000 per year for in-state students and $5,000 for out-of-state students.
▪ $11.5 million to expand the NC Promise program to Fayetteville State University, a historically Black university.
▪ $29 million for building reserves to pay for the cost of operating new campus buildings.
▪ $97 million for the Kitty Hawk Adult Online Learning program that targets working adults.
▪ $2.2 billion over two fiscal years for capital investments that include repairs, renovations, rehabilitation of aging campus facilities and new construction projects at campuses across the state.
The big investments
The $2 billion of capital funds is the biggest state investment in facilities since the bond referendum in 2000, according to Hans.
“It’s hard to overstate the importance of that,” Hans said. “We have struggled for years with this multi-billion dollar backlog in deferred maintenance on buildings.”
This money will go toward renovations of research and academic buildings, libraries, athletics facilities and residence halls at every school. It also includes $90 million for improvements in construction, enrollment and courses in N.C. State, UNC Charlotte and N.C. A&T engineering programs.
The money will also help pay for new construction projects including a STEM building at N.C. State, the UNC-CH Kenan-Flagler Business School, the School of Education at Fayetteville State University, the ECU Brody School of Medicine building and a Health Sciences Center at UNC Pembroke.
“This sends a very strong message that our legislature and all of our public leaders believe that this university is on the right course,” Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey said. “And that we can continue to make transformative change. And that’s our intent.”
The investment in the ed-tech startup Kitty Hawk reflects that vision. The program is designed to offer flexible and affordable education to the more than one million people in North Carolina with some college credit, but no degree.
“The higher education market is changing in ways that will put a premium on universities’ ability to adapt to the needs of working adults and to meet new demands form employers,” board member Carolyn Coward said.
This money will be used to build an educational technology non-profit that helps schools develop, market and provide online degree programs to working adults that align with state workforce needs, while diversifying their revenue, she said. Kitty Hawk will take a portion of the tuition money generated by the new programs created through this partnership.
The state also allocated about $11 million for planning and design for the UNC System Office to relocate to Raleigh in the downtown government complex from Chapel Hill. The money is slated for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
The project could put the facilities of the UNC System, Community Colleges System Office, Department of Public Instruction and Department of Commerce in a single location.
Legislative policy changes
▪ The state’s three financial aid programs — UNC Need-Based grant, NC Lottery Scholarship and Community College Grant — will now be combined into one NC Scholarship. The goal is to simplify the financial aid process and make it easier for students to apply and understand what money they can get.
▪ Students don’t have to pay interest charges on past due student debt as a result of COVID-19.
▪ Finance and audit officers are no longer part of the NC Human Resources Act, which will allow the system to better compete with the private sector in recruiting.
▪ Human Resources Offices have more flexibility in responding to COVID-19 challenges, including expanding early retirement availability and authority to cover furloughed employee’s health care costs.
▪ Campus police officers can take an unlimited number of university courses per semester for free.
What’s next?
The N.C. Senate and House voted to approve the spending plan this week, and Gov. Roy Cooper signed the budget into law Thursday.
Now, the UNC System will allocate the money to campuses. The UNC System budget and finance committee plans to call a special meeting in December to do that, because the full board is not scheduled to meet again until January.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 8:00 AM with the headline "The UNC System will get more money than it asked for in the state budget. What’s in it?."
