The UNCW Board of Trustees approved a 6.5 percent tuition increase for the 2012-13 year and will recommend a “peer alignment” adjustment to tuition that will amount to a total increase of 10.7 percent. Fees will increase as well, but only minimally, at $9.50 per student.

Pending approval by the UNC Board of Governors, the total annual tuition and fee increases for the 2012-13 year are as follows:

$609.50 for in-state undergraduate students

$809.50 for out-of-state undergraduate students

$246.29 for in-state graduate students

$509.50 for out-of-state graduate students

Still coping with a loss of 15.8 percent, or $16.5 million, in state appropriations in 2011-12, UNCW will recover about half—$7,363,007—as a result of these increases. The Board of Governors will meet in February to address this proposal.

“Any and all tuition increases approved by the Board of Governors in February will be used for direct instruction, course selection, class size and replenishing direct academic student support services, especially in the Library,” said Cathy Barlow, Provost for Student Affairs, although the exact number of course sections and “seats”—spots in courses for students—that will be replenished next year is not certain.

If the Board of Governors approves these increases, Barlow said they hope to increase the number of full-time faculty positions by 68. As a result of massive budget cuts from the state this academic year, 558 course sections, 16,609 seats and 78 faculty positions at UNCW were eliminated.

However, the monies regained will not automatically replenish what has been cut, according to Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Charles Maimone. The funds will be assigned to projects that are considered most important to the university. “We plan to absorb cuts in all other areas except instruction,” said Maimone.

In addition to the 25 percent of tuition revenue that, by Board of Governors mandate, will go to financial aid, UNCW plans to focus created revenue on programs in University Studies and Applied Learning and signature academic programs such as the marine sciences and nursing, among others. Additional tuition revenue will also go toward increasing academic advising capacity, increasing diversity and supporting graduate programs. Randall Library will receive a good portion of the money to restore its hours of operation and fund its resources.

Although the Board of Governors has established a policy that requires annual tuition increases to stay at or below 6.5 percent, schools in North Carolina also have the option of asking for an adjustment according to the tuition levels of their peer institutions, other schools around the nation that are similar in various ways and named peers by the Board of Governors. Because UNCW’s tuition, as of 2011-2012, is below that of all of its peer institutions, the university will request a peer alignment in order to remain competitive with these schools, said Maimone.

UNCW could have asked for a fee increase of up to $109.28 (the cap), but administrators say they consciously kept the fee increase as low as possible. The $9.50 per student will benefit the Student Health Center by supplying appointment software and additional funding for a pharmacist position.

In Chancellor Gary Miller’s presentation to the Board of Trustees during which he recommended the increases, he began by saying, “The University of North Carolina Wilmington is a university with…important promises to keep.” One of these promises, Maimone added later, is a promise to maintain the integrity of the quality of the educational experience.