Bucking a national trend, North Carolina and other Southern states are expected to see an increase in high school graduates in the coming years. State university leaders hope that means the demand for college education will remain strong.
But it won’t come without challenges. Confidence is declining nationally in higher education, underscoring a need to prove its value to prospective students. And funding threats at the state and federal levels have stretched university resources at the same time they are trying to attract more students.
That was one takeaway from a higher ed-focused gathering Wednesday night in Durham as part of The Atlantic Across America tour, hosted by the magazine in partnership with The Assembly. In a panel led by The Atlantic’s Evan Smith, three chancellors from the UNC System—Karrie Dixon of N.C. Central University, Kevin Howell from N.C. State University, and Lee Roberts of UNC-Chapel Hill—discussed the state of higher education in North Carolina and its future.
Smith opened the discussion by asking the chancellors why it was necessary for the UNC System Board of Governors to approve in-state undergraduate tuition raises for the first time in nearly a decade.
Dixon answered that external pressures, like inflation, have strained North Carolina universities’ resources at the same time that most of them are growing. N.C. Central, Dixon noted, has seen some of the highest enrollment increases across the UNC System and last fall surpassed 9,000 students for the first time in the historically Black university’s history. But that growth has come without corresponding funding increases since state lawmakers have not passed a new comprehensive budget. The UNC System plans to request nearly $160 million in enrollment funding from legislators this year, a total that reflects campuses’ growth over two years.
Still, the chancellors said that the upcoming tuition increases are not intended to come at the expense of access and affordability for students.
“Any North Carolinian wanting an opportunity to attend higher education, we should do everything we can to make sure that they have an opportunity,” Howell said.
Many Americans question whether the cost of college is worth it, surveys show. Dixon said university leaders must show prospective students “the impact of what quality education does for families in the state of North Carolina and beyond.” N.C. Central, for instance, is among the top 10 universities in the South for the “social mobility” it provides students, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Howell highlighted the return on investment students receive from their degree as another metric to promote. A 2023 study mandated by the General Assembly showed that UNC System graduates receive a roughly $500,000 return-on-investment on their degrees compared to non-graduates.
Roberts argued that colleges must also prove their value in other ways, particularly in an age when wide swaths of information and knowledge are readily available outside of the academy.
“What is our role?” Roberts said. “Is it the transfer of information, or is it the creation of citizens?”
Smith noted that North Carolina benefits from a “college-going culture” that other areas of the country might not have. That has long helped drive the state’s economy and created a symbiotic relationship between higher education and industry.
“Broad bipartisan consensus going back decades in the UNC System, I think everyone would agree, is crucial to the success of the state in general and the Triangle in particular,” Roberts said.
Wednesday’s event also featured a panel of North Carolina journalists: Leoneda Inge of WUNC, Eduardo Medina of The New York Times, and Kate Sheppard of The Assembly. The Atlantic’s David A. Graham moderated the discussion that touched on North Carolina’s rapid growth and its far-reaching impacts.
