Enrollment at public universities in North Carolina has increased again this year, setting a new record for UNC System institutions.
Collectively, 16 public universities enrolled 247,927 students, a 2.2% jump from last year. This total includes increases for transfer and graduate students, and the largest freshman class in UNC System history.
This comes at a time where first-year classes are declining .
According to data from the National Student Clearinghouse, this year compared to last fall. Public four-year institutions in particular saw the largest decrease at 8.5%.
Even though the UNC System saw , President Peter Hans said they aren鈥檛 immune to changing enrollment patterns.
鈥淣othing is guaranteed next year,鈥� Hans said at a November Board of Governors (BOG) meeting. 鈥淏ecause of the demographic headwinds (and) the diminishing confidence in higher education, this is going to be an ongoing challenge.鈥�
The 鈥渉eadwinds鈥� Hans refers to include what higher education experts call an This is a prediction that in the coming years, the number of college-going students will shrink, leading to a sharp decline in enrollment nationally.
Steep enrollment declines have already impacted two of the System鈥檚 universities: UNC Asheville and UNC Greensboro.
Prior to this year, both institutions had recurring years of declining enrollment, resulting in millions of dollars in tuition losses. The universities lost so much money, their chancellors decided to cut several academic departments and majors.
鈥淲e鈥檝e lost 2,500 students in four years 鈥� that鈥檚 a whole class,鈥� UNCG Chancellor Franklin Gilliam said at a July BOG meeting. 鈥淚nstitutions must evolve, (we) can鈥檛 remain static. Given the disruption in higher education, it would be neglectful to not respond in a meaningful way.鈥�
Increasing traditional student enrollment
This year, the UNC System launched a pilot program to increase admissions at UNC Asheville and UNC Greensboro. The NC College Connect program 鈥渟implifies鈥� the admissions process for in-state students with a GPA of 2.8 or above, according to Vice President for Student Affairs Bethany Meighen.
To apply for the schools, students only have to provide their name, email address, what major they鈥檇 like to take, and when they鈥檇 like to start.
UNC Asheville has already seen an 8% jump in applications from students who live more than 120 miles away from the institution, said Meighen at the November BOG meeting.
The program also includes several other UNC System institutions 鈥� Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, UNC Pembroke, and Winston-Salem State 鈥� and the NC Community College System.
So far, students have submitted over 5,000 applications total.
The NC College Connect pilot program is part of a multi-prong approach to increase enrollment at the UNC System.
Last year, the System launched a streamlined financial aid process called the Next NC Scholarship. It combines state funds with federal assistance like the Pell Grant into one financial aid package for students coming from households making $80,000 or less.
The $180 million program gives students at least $5,000 to attend any of the state鈥檚 public universities or $3,000 to attend one of North Carolina鈥檚 community colleges.
The initiative mimics free tuition aid programs launched by Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill in the wake of the U.S. Supreme court鈥檚 decision to overturn affirmative action.
In , UNC-Chapel Hill said they would 鈥渇ollow the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in all respects,鈥� meaning race will not be a factor in admissions decisions.
Like every other institution in the UNC System, UNC-Chapel Hill鈥檚 enrollment increased this year. However, the university鈥檚 percentage of Black, Latino, and American Indian students decreased.
The state鈥檚 Education Assistance Authority spent over a million dollars to raise awareness about the Next NC scholarship program. Funding for the $1.25 million campaign was appropriated by the NC General Assembly via the state鈥檚 2021-2023 budget.
Strategies to attract nontraditional students
The UNC System is also working on its admissions process for transfer students, which make up about a third of the fall 2024 cohort. At the November meeting, BOG members discussed a potential regulation to make the transfer process easier.
The proposal includes a mandate for universities to regularly update their and a 15-day deadline to review and notify accepted students on how their credits will transfer.
鈥淲e lose too many students to unscrupulous universities simply because they get transfer credit evaluations back more quickly,鈥� Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David English said. 鈥�(If) an institution doesn鈥檛 get back to you for four, or six, or eight, or 12 weeks, you鈥檙e going to select the institution that got back to you more quickly, even if the academic quality is not the same.鈥�
UNC Asheville Chancellor Kimberly van Noort said she would like to see the System go even further with simplifying the process for transfer students.
鈥淗aving come from a very, very transfer-friendly state, I was pretty shocked at the lack of uniformity and the lack of automation here in North Carolina,鈥� van Noort said at the November BOG meeting. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got the common course (numbering system), but we do not have a common general education curriculum in this state and that is a major barrier.鈥�
At the meeting, BOG members also proposed a new initiative to attract more military students 鈥� reducing tuition for active duty service members.
In North Carolina, it鈥檚 , said Eric Naisbitt, the UNC System鈥檚 associate vice president of military affairs.
鈥淓ven in instances where we can serve an underserved constituency, like military service members, or in an instance where we could help directly benefit the state鈥檚 education attainment goal 鈥� we are expressly prohibited in law from offering discounted tuition,鈥� said Naisbitt.
Instead, military students have to receive aid through the federal Military Tuition Assistance (TA) program. However, since the program is capped at $250 per semester hour, it doesn鈥檛 cover all the tuition costs for military students.
For example, a typical full student course load is about 15 credit hours, or $3,750 in aid under the TA program. Most public universities in the state charge about and about $14,000 to $35,000 for out-of-state.
鈥淐amp Lejeune鈥檚 got between 7,000 and 8,000 marines that use tuition assistance each year,鈥� Naisbitt said. 鈥淎n overwhelming majority of those marines are getting educational opportunities from an institution that is not located within the state of North Carolina.鈥�
Brad Wrenn is the UNC System鈥檚 program manager for military and veterans education. He said that without a more competitive tuition price, North Carolina is going to continue missing out on military students.
鈥淚f you are an active duty service member and you鈥檝e got two programs that are similar in perceived quality, but one of them you鈥檝e got to come out of pocket for and one of them you don鈥檛,鈥� Wrenn said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going with the one that you don鈥檛 have to come out of pocket for every single time.鈥�
The BOG is considering asking the NC General Assembly to allow the UNC System to offer discounted tuition to military students, permitting public universities to charge under $250 per credit hour for courses.
Moving forward, UNC System President Peter Hans said there is a 鈥渞elentless need鈥� to 鈥渟implify and streamline,鈥� both for traditional and nontraditional students.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 admissions, financial aid, transfer policies,鈥� Hans said. 鈥淲e exist in a dynamic marketplace and if we stand still where we were decades ago, we鈥檙e going to lose ground 鈥� our competitors aren鈥檛 sitting still.鈥�
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