UNC System’s five HBCUs can now enroll more college students from out of state

North Carolina’s public historically Black universities will be able to enroll more out-of-state students than ever before under a new UNC System policy.

The UNC System Board of Governors approved a policy change to raise the cap on out-of-state freshman undergraduate students from 18% to 25% for the five HBCUs in the system. It was a nearly unanimous vote.

N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro and Elizabeth City State University had previously been granted flexibility on the enrollment cap. Now, those schools as well as N.C. Central University in Durham, Fayetteville State University and Winston-Salem State University will all have flexibility to go up to 25%.

N.C. Central Chancellor Johnson Akinleye said in an email that this will make HBCUs more competitive and elevate their national reputations by recruiting new students, without preventing access for North Carolina students.

The change also brings in more money for the university because out-of-state students pay more in tuition.

“The 25% is only going to allow us to be able to meet the growing demand for our institution,” Akinleye said at the meeting. “And we will continue to make sure that all of the students from North Carolina, whether from community college or directly from high school, will have an opportunity here.”

Why raise the enrollment cap?

Akineyle and the other four chancellors sent a letter advocating for the change to UNC System President Peter Hans in February, as the issue was being discussed by the board’s Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs.

They outlined how N.C. A&T and ECSU saw sustainable enrollment growth, higher-quality applicants, higher retention and graduation rates, more competitive academic programs and more success on licensure exams and workforce preparation. The chancellors also said increasing their ability to recruit more out-of-state students will increase diversity.

“NCCU expects that it will experience similar benefits if the non-resident student enrollment cap is raised permanently,” Akinleye said.

N.C. Central also exceeded this enrollment cap in Fall 2020, which technically broke the rules. But, Akinleye said, it proved that there is demand and did not negatively affect the retention of NCCU students, the acceptance of qualified North Carolina applicants or in-state student scholarships.

“We want to make clear that increasing enrollment of [nonresident students] at our campuses will not come at the expense of qualified North Carolina students,” the letter said. “We remain firmly committed to our mission of serving the people of North Carolina.”

North Carolina has more public HBCUs than any other state, UNC System President Peter Hans noted at the meeting. And all five institutions are among the top 25 HBCUs in U.S. News & World Report rankings.

This new policy will broaden access to higher education and strengthen those schools, Hans said. And amending the cap is the “most effective and efficient step” to address historic under-investment at the state’s HBCUs.

“This will improve financial stability for these campuses long-term,” Hans said.

It will allow the schools to devote more money to such areas as housing and dining, as well as student support and academics that will improve graduation rates, he said.

Some board members expressed concern about out-of-state students taking away spots from North Carolina students with this new policy.

Hans and Board Chair Randy Ramsey assured the board that it will not displace any North Carolina students and they are not interested in expanding this policy to other UNC System schools.

Penalty for exceeding enrollment limits

Exceeding the nonresident enrollment cap is a violation of UNC System policy.

Since N.C. Central broke that rule in Fall 2020, the board discussed whether to impose a penalty or offer a warning.

Board members explained that penalty would be the amount of money gained from those students, about $1.5 million. UNC-Chapel Hill was penalized in 2016 for the same violation.

Some board members, including Jim Holmes and Steve Long, argued against waiving the penalty, saying rules are rules and there’s no point in having a policy if it’s not enforced. And the same consequences should apply to NCCU as UNC-CH, they said.

Ramsey said if the policy they just approved had been in place, then NCCU wouldn’t be out of compliance.

“I think it’s contradictory to what we just voted on to penalize them,” Ramsey said.

He also said no North Carolinians were denied a spot at NCCU because it exceeded the cap, which wasn’t the case at UNC-CH.

The board voted to waive the penalty and issue an official warning, with five members voting no.

Ramsey said he supports the warning, but future violations will not be tolerated.

Approval of university trustees

The board also appointed several new trustees at Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, N.C. A&T, N.C. Central, N.C. State University, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, UNC School of the Arts, UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina University and Winston-Salem State.

All of the trustees were approved without discussion, except for Malcolm Turner at UNC-CH.

Board members questioned Turner’s selection because of his ties to college sports gambling as an executive at DraftKings. Turner was approved, with a handful no votes.

The next board meeting is scheduled for May 26-27 in Chapel Hill.