www.thecentersquare.com – By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-02-28 17:01:00
(The Center Square) – Tuition for out of state undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was increased during Thursday’s meeting of the Board of Governors.
Costs remain the same for in-state students in the entire university system. It marked the ninth straight year without a tuition increase for in-state undergraduate students, Andy Wallace, spokesman for the university system, told The Center Square.
“UNC System is the only system in the country able to say that,” Wallace said.
The increases approved Thursday will bring the out-of-state tuition at Chapel Hill to $43,152. The revenue from the increase would be used for faculty and staff retention, academic support, campus safety, and to “offset the inflationary impacts on contracted services,” according to the university system.
Chapel Hill received 51,181 first-year applications from out-of-state residents for admission in the fall of 2024, according to the university system.
Only 18% of first-year slots at Chapel Hill are available for out-of-state and international students, leaving 82% for in-state residents.
The university system governing board also kept tuition the same – $500 per semester – at Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Western Carolina University in the NC Promise program.
The NC Promise Program has “increased educational access, reduced student debt, and grown the state’s economy,” the university system says on its website.
The percentage of bachelor’s degree students in the UNC System with federal loan debt at graduation is actually dropping, Wallace added. It has gone from 61.2% in 2018-19 to 49.9% in 2023-24, the spokesman said.
In their request for tuition increases this year for out of state students and some in-state graduate students, North Carolina universities cited inflation as a factor.
Appalachian State, for example, was approved Thursday for a 3% increase for both in- and out-of-state graduate students and all out-of-state undergraduates.
“Revenues resulting from this increase will be used to offset the impacts of inflation on supplies, materials, and services, to invest in classroom equipment and technology, and to provide for new faculty and academic advisor positions to support the growing student population at the Boone and Hickory campuses,” a university system document states.
SUMMARY: President Trump proposed a 65% staff cut at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), signaling a shift away from federal climate action. Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy argues that while state and local governments may try to compensate, they won’t be fully effective without the EPA’s expertise and resources. The EPA administers crucial funding to these entities, essential for managing climate-related challenges. McCarthy emphasizes the importance of coalitions among states and cities to address climate issues and rebuild infrastructure. Without the EPA’s active role, efforts to combat climate change will face significant hurdles, according to McCarthy’s insights.
President Donald Trump said his administration could cut 65% of the staff at the Enivornmental Protection Agency. Former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy discussed what the impacts would be in the changes are implemented.
New Helene bill has ‘good things.’ Just one problem: It falls short of the need.
by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press February 28, 2025
RALEIGH — Last week, state Rep. Eric Ager, D-Buncombe, was just outside of Asheville, driving from Bat Cave to Fairview. Parts of the journey were along a one-lane dirt road, a temporary replacement after Tropical Storm Helene wreaked havoc on the landscape.
While he’s noticed recovery efforts in other parts of the region, Ager said in some areas there’s not much work happening.
“We got tough weather up there this time of year, but mostly it’s that the funds are dry,” Ager told his colleagues on the House floor before they voted on the latest recovery package. “Now, we know we keep hearing that those federal funds are coming, but I’ll just say that if they are coming, they’re coming awfully slow and we need the help now.”
On Tuesday, the state House voted unanimously in favor of a $500 million funding package to aid Western North Carolina following the severe storm’s devastation in September 2024.
Still, it was about half of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s $1.07 billion request, but lawmakers promised that it was just the beginning.
Upon state Senate and governor approval, the package would bring North Carolina’s total recovery spending to over a billion dollars.
The cost of recovery
While House Bill 47, titled the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part 1, is subject to change before its passage, it currently centers on several key areas of recovery: immediate disaster response, infrastructure and economic revitalization.
To get the job done, the measure uses the $225 million transferred from the state’s “Rainy Day Fund” to the Helene Fund as well as $275 million from the state’s Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund.
However, the legislature excluded several of Stein’s requests: $50 million for affordable housing development; $10 million for a homeless housing stabilization program; and $25 million for immediate minor repairs and non-FEMA eligible needs.
Despite that, the proposed bill addresses a variety of Helene-related needs, some more immediate than others.
Thus far, over 4.6 million cubic yards of debris have been removed from the disaster zone. But there is more to be done, and much recovery work hinges on debris being out of the way. House lawmakers dedicated $20 million for such removal in HB 47.
To address other immediate needs, the bill also includes $10 million in grants for volunteer organizations working in the area.
The largest ticket item, however, is infrastructure. Destroyed private roads and bridges hinder recovery efforts and emergency access to homes and businesses. So far, 6,723 of these projects have been funded, according to the state auditor’s Helene dashboard.
The bill also gives $100 million to North Carolina’s Division of Emergency Management to distribute for more projects after the agency has made sure federal funding or other money isn’t available.
East Asheville residents walk over a bridge across the Swannanoa River, amid extensive devastation from recent flooding, including storage trailers smashed against one side of the bridge on Sept. 30, 2024, days after Helene swept through Western North Carolina. Colby Rabon / Carolina Public Press
About 275,000 households are expected to apply for individual assistance, and 73,700 homes in Western North Carolina are thought to be damaged, according to an analysis by the Office of the State Budget and Management. The state budget office estimates that restoring housing will cost about $15.3 billion.
But the state doesn’t have that much money to spare. Stein wanted to provide $263 million. House lawmakers countered with $135 million.
Both proposed spending plans include a small contribution toward rental assistance paired with a large check to the state Department of Commerce for the Home Reconstruction and Repair Program.
This assistance — $125 million per the House bill — consists of startup funds to be used until federal housing money arrives, in about a year. The money will be used to offer buyouts to some homeowners as well as reconstruction and rehabilitation of other homes.
Fire departments get their own payday, too. The Office of the State Fire Marshal is set to receive $10 million, first to repair damage to fire station buildings and vehicles. Then to be equally divided between the area’s fire departments for equipment and other improvements.
The remaining funds in the package are dedicated to getting Western North Carolina’s small businesses and industry back on their feet.
Due to Helene, farmers may have lost crops, livestock, equipment or buildings. The House bill provides $150 million toward two programs to help them resume production and protect against future flooding.
Small businesses may earn up to $1 million grants for damaged infrastructure like water, sewer, gas and telecommunications that keep them from reopening through a $55 million Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program.
Finally, the Department of Commerce gets $5 million to create a targeted media campaign aimed at attracting tourists to Western North Carolina.
Next Helene package needs more
There isn’t a dollar in the bill for public schools.
State Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, took issue with that on Tuesday. Lawmakers denied Stein’s request of $56 million designated for families and children, which included a summer program to address learning loss and emergency student aid grants.
“We have eight counties. We have at least four schools (where) kids couldn’t go back — they had to go to other facilities. We have two schools totally decimated,” Morey said. “And so we’re not doing it today, but our public school kids need a place to go. They need a facility. I hope in the next bill, we will address the children out west in these affected counties.”
Other Democrats placed requests for more funding in the near future. Rep. Lindsey Prather, D-Buncombe, said that while there were a lot of “good things” in the bill, it wasn’t enough.
“We talk about the risk of paying for things that FEMA is supposed to pay for because we’re worried about the match,” Prather said. “We talk about getting ahead of federal money. What we don’t talk about is the risk of not spending that money.”
Republican Rep. Dudley Greene, who represents Avery, McDowell, Mitchell and Yancey counties, said this isn’t the final spending package.
“It’s not even the beginning of the end,” he assured, “but perhaps it is the end of the beginning.”
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers:
Question: When will Congressman Chuck Edwards hold a town hall meeting in WNC? A lot of other congressmen and women have held them lately, and they’ve become kind of heated.
My answer: I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, “Never.” Unless the congressman has a penchant for taking spittle showers, that is.
Real answer: If you haven’t been following along, several members of Congress have held town hall meetings in their districts lately, and they essentially turned into shouting matches, with a dose of heckling thrown in for good measure. It seems President Donald Trump’s budget- and federal workers-slashing agenda has gotten many voters pretty riled up, especially against Republican members of Congress like Edwards.
I reached out to Edwards’ spokesperson Maria Kim, who provided a statement from the congressman.
“Being accessible, listening, and answering questions for the people of WNC are among my favorite activities,” Edwards said. “That is why in my first term as congressman, I held eight in-person town halls. I planned another but had to cancel it due to the hurricane.
“That works out to be about one every quarter, and I hope to maintain a similar pace this term depending on my legislative calendar. Additionally, I continue to hold regular tele-town halls, which allow many more folks to participate directly by simply dialing in.”
Edwards, who lives in Hendersonville, was first elected in 2022 and then re-elected last November.
Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College, said it would be no surprise that a member of Congress might opt out of doing an in-person town hall these days, given the country’s divisive mood.
“This used to be kind of standard fare, that when they weren’t in legislative session they were working back in the district,” Bitzer said. “Members of Congress would do these town halls to kind of gauge what’s going on in their communities and to really kind of show the constituency services that members are expected to do. I think the likely impact of political polarization has kind of turned that on its head.”
This is nothing new, of course, Bitzer said, noting that when former President Barack Obama was pushing the Affordable Care Act, the controversial plan generated vehement opposition and shouting matches at town halls.
“I think that’s become now the new norm — if a certain segment of the citizenry is aggravated, they are going to show up and they are going to let their members of Congress know,” Bitzer said, noting that back then the Tea Party, and then MAGA Republicans in recent months, were the ones getting fired up. “Now, I think you’re seeing the reverse happen. It’s maybe one of the last true bipartisan dynamics of our politics — that both sides can get equally yelled at.”
Bitzer noted that security looms large with elected officials these days. In the past two decades Republican and Democratic members of Congress have been shot, and President Trump endured two assassination attempts last year.
“That has got to be a primary consideration, particularly by the member and their staff — that we have seen these kinds of violence erupt,” Bitzer said. “And this is a potential breeding ground for those kinds of violent rhetoric, but also expressions and acts. So this is something that I think any elected official is going to take very carefully into consideration.”
Question: I have a question I’d love answered about license plates. I moved to Asheville a year ago from out of state, and when I registered my cars and got new plates the first three letters were LAK for both. As I started driving around more, and still a year later, I feel like almost everyone’s plates start with LAK! I know it’s not a huge city, but it feels like they have sooooo many LAK plates to give out and not many other combinations. I find it hard to believe that this many people also got new plates recently. How long have they been giving out LAK plates? Are there similar patterns like this in other North Carolina cities? What’s the explanation?
A reader asks why so many license plates starting with “LAK” appear in the Asheville area. It is a common site, but it’s nothing intentional, the DMV says. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle
My answer: I’m completely LAKing a response here, but I will ask you to set up an appointment with me for further snark, which I will get to in six months. Actually, I just checked and all the appointments are taken.
Real answer: The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles is not up to any funny business here.
“This just sort of happens,” Marty Homan, a spokesperson for the North Carolina DMV, said via email. “It’s not intentional to have a certain letter combo in a certain area, except for the OBX plates in Dare County.”
The DMV makes deliveries every few months to its license plate agencies to fulfill plate orders.
“We print in batches with the same prefix, and then they are distributed,” Homan said. “So it is possible that a license plate agency, and even multiple in a certain region or on a certain delivery route, could all be getting the same prefix at a given time.”
The Asheville route goes like this: Asheville (south), Asheville (west), Marshall, Brevard, Hendersonville, Columbus/Polk County.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
