Nailing theses to UNC's door - Taylor Batten, Charlotte Observer

Faced with close to $500 million in cuts mandated by the legislature, chancellors are asking the board to approve sizable tuition increases. UNC Asheville seeks a 13.5 percent hike this year; UNC Chapel Hill, 11.4 percent; UNC Charlotte, 7.8 percent. Article IX, Section 9 of the N.C. Constitution specifies that the UNC system must "as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense." That's in increasing danger. The UNC system is one of the most important institutions to this state's future. It's where 220,000 students are educated each year, where they become leaders, where they gain the tools necessary to earn an income and improve the state. As students are priced out by higher tuition, North Carolina's future is diminished.