The University of North Carolina Board of Governors currently is discussing the merits of modifying its admissions policy, which limits the number of out-of-state students to 18 percent of the total freshman class.
The Board's educational planning committee met Sept. 10 to debate a proposal that would increase the maximum percentage of out-of-state students to 22 percent.
"The idea before the committee is not a hard 22 percent cap," said Joni Worthington, associate vice president of communications for UNC. "The suggestion is to increase the admittance rate slightly as long as the number of North Carolina residents admitted continues to grow as well."
Technically, the proposal is not designed to raise the cap on out-of-state admittance, but creates specific categories of students that would not be included in the 18 percent limit. Categories are designed to include students with exceptional academic performances, such as National Merit Scholars and National Achievement Scholars.
According to the current proposal before the committee, the admittance of out-of-state students beyond 18 percent could not exceed 4 percent over a five-year period.
The proposal already has sparked debate around the UNC system, which oversees 16 public universities.
Some campuses have expressed concern that the current policy limits the ability to recruit strong students from out of state.
"We are considering the proposal to allow for greater flexibility in the admissions process," Worthington said.
Opponents to the proposal cite a $3.1 billion, tax-payer funded, higher education bond referendum designed to create more space for North Carolina residents within the UNC system. Residents expressed concern that by lifting the cap, in-state students, whose taxes fund the building program, would be denied admittance.
Matt Calabria, student government member at UNC, Chapel Hill, defended the proposal.
"The percentage increase will make admittance more competitive, but will not hurt residents since the total number of students enrolled will increase," he said.
Supporters of the proposal look to the diversity and academic strength that more out-of-state students would bring to North Carolina.
"More out-of-state students would help diversify the campus, getting different experiences, different backgrounds, from different parts of the country," Calabria said.
The committee will meet again Oct. 9 to vote on the proposal.No proposal will be submitted to the full Board of Governors until the committee votes.
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