RALEIGH (September 18, 2025) – Universities across the country are struggling to attract students due to shrinking birth rates.

The UNC System is headed in the opposite direction.

The system announced record fall enrollment figures last week that show 3.4% growth across the system in fall 2025. Enrollment increased at 15 of 16 campuses, topping 250,000 students for the first time, 200,000 of them undergraduates.

The only UNC campus that lost enrollment was UNC Asheville, which closed for 33 days in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene a year ago, when the city of Asheville even lost drinking water. System President Peter Hans said the decline in students was “for completely understandable reasons.”¹

“This is a strong sign that families across North Carolina and the nation continue to see educational value and opportunity in our institutions,” said Wendy Murphy, Chair of the UNC System Board of Governors.

“That’s because we have delivered on our promise of affordability, freezing resident undergraduate tuition for nine years. That is a record to be proud of.”

BUT THAT might not last much longer.

Murphy said the Board will allow campuses to propose tuition increases of as much as 3% for 2026-27.

Because the UNC System has a fixed-tuition policy – students pay the same tuition for four years – the increase would apply only to incoming freshmen in fall 2026 at first. The Board will vote on the proposed increases in February.

University chancellors – from NC State to UNC Wilmington to UNC Pembroke – have publicly sought tuition increases for several years, citing increased building costs and the loss of key faculty and staff to competing offers.

There is also pressure from state legislators – and reductions in federal funds.

With the state facing projections of reduced revenue in 2026-27 due to scheduled tax cuts,² both the state House and state Senate included tuition increases in their respective budget proposals this spring. But nearly three months into the fiscal year, the two chambers have not yet agreed on a 2025-27 state budget.

“We are in an era of some financial uncertainty. Inflation has driven up the cost of operations at our institutions. Universities have absorbed those pressures while holding the line on tuition. But we cannot expect them to continue doing so without negative impacts,” Murphy said. “At the same time, potential budget changes mean we must strengthen financial positions at the campus level.”

“Even with a 3% adjustment, tuition for North Carolina students will remain among the lowest in the nation and well below most of our peer institutions,” she said.

“This is about balance – about strengthening our universities while keeping opportunity within reach for the people of our state.”

NOT EVERY member is on board with a tuition increase, though.

In a committee meeting Wednesday, former state budget director and conservative political donor Art Pope said the timing is bad. He noted that lower-income families, in particular, are struggling.

“The worst time to increase tuition of North Carolina families – we’re talking about in-state, undergraduate tuition – is when we’re on a flat income,” he said.³

He also noted the NC Constitution’s mandate that the state must provide the benefits of the University to the people of the state for “as far as practicable … free of expense.”⁴

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1 https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article312149267.html
2 https://www.osbm.nc.gov/revised-consensus-revenue-forecast-may-2025/open; https://publicedworks.org/2025/06/house-budget-takes-more-cautious-approach-on-taxes/.
3 https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article312134084.html.
4  https://www.ncleg.gov/Laws/Constitution/Article9, Sec. 9.