UNC-Chapel Hill’s chief financial officer Nate Knuffman succeeded Thursday in gaining approval to increase in-state tuition, despite opposition by several politically powerful trustees.
Wednesday, leaders of a key budget committee told Knuffman to rework his tuition recommendations for 2026-27 and remove a 3% increase for in-state undergrads. But at the full UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, Knuffman again presented his original proposal.
“Thanks for the robust discussion,” said Knuffman, standing firm. “We have considered that feedback, and we’d like this body to reconsider the tuition and fee proposal that we put forward yesterday.”
Knuffman’s recommendation, which was ultimately adopted in a split vote, includes undergraduate tuition increases of 3% for in-state students and 10% for out-of-state undergrads. Graduate campus-based tuition would see no change. The university will also move ahead with a 3% increase in student fees ($53 more per student), a 7% hike in housing and a 3.9% boost for on-campus dining prices.
Knuffman said raising in-state tuition, which drew the most opposition, was necessary.
“We remain concerned about the dynamic where UNC Chapel Hill is requesting a sizable level of enrollment dollars, north of $15 million from the legislature, yet we’re not using all the options available to us to generate additional dollars,” Knuffman explained.
Trustee Marty Kotis, who chairs the university board’s Budget, Finance, and Infrastructure Committee, was not happy.
Kotis reiterated that the North Carolina Constitution requires UNC to provide education to North Carolinians free of expense, as far as practical.
UNC Chapel Hill trustee Jim Blaine was among the most vocal opponents of the in-state tuition increase. (Screengrab: UNC-CH video stream)“This makes affordability for North Carolina residents a constitutional mandate, not a policy preference,” said Kotis.
Kotis proposed leaving in-state undergraduate tuition flat and finding the needed revenue by increasing tuition on out-of-state graduate students.
Trustee Jim Blaine went a step further, pointedly asking Chancellor Lee Roberts to justify how the university would spend the $800,000 that would be generated by a 3% tuition increase for North Carolinians.
“We have significant strategic priorities including the master plan for the campus,” answered Roberts.
“I don’t think that that’s much of an answer,” responded Blaine. “This is the easy button. This is the lazy way.”
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts addresses trustees at a Nov. 13, 2025 meeting. (Screengrab: UNC-CH video stream)Blaine said the university was not operating at maximum efficiency. He said leaders could find $800,000 elsewhere in a $4 billion budget without hitting North Carolina students and families.
Trustee Vinay Patel said when he was first appointed to the board of trustees in 2021, there was great ‘heartache’ over increasing out-of-state tuition by one or two percent.
“Here we are talking about a 10% increase to that number four years later. So that easy button has been pushed quite a bit,” said Patel.
At the same time, Patel agreed the university would be hard-pressed to get more money from the General Assembly when they did not use the tuition increase granted in September by the UNC Board of Governors.
UNC-Chapel Hill trustee Jennifer Lloyd argued that the desire to keep in-state tuition flat for undergraduates was honorable and admirable, but not realistic. (Screengrab: UNC-CH video stream)Trustee Jennifer Lloyd said UNC-Chapel Hill has consistently been ranked as a best value among colleges and universities, but it was time to generate revenue.
“Why do we tolerate being so much less expensive than anyone but the University of Florida, while we continue to tolerate the deficiencies in the services that we provide?” asked Lloyd, who has had five children attend UNC-Chapel Hill.
“One thing I’ve noted about government is once you turn on the faucet to increase, it never stops,” argued Patrick Ballantine, a former state senator. “For now, I think it’s important to keep this faucet off for in-state residents.”
Lloyd said the desire to keep tuition flat for in-state undergraduates was honorable and admirable, but not realistic.
A look at UNC-Chapel Hill rates for tuition and fees for 2026-27. (Source: UNC-CH Finance and Operations.)“We need to raise more revenue in any reasonable place we can,” said Lloyd. “We have tolerated an accumulated balance of deferred maintenance that we shouldn’t be tolerating. So, I’m going to stand behind the chancellor’s recommendation.”
With four trustees absent, Kotis recommended the decision be postponed until the full board could vote by paper ballot.
The trustees who were present rejected Kotis’s motion to delay the matter further, ultimately passing the tuition increase on a 6-5 vote.
The 3% increase amounts to a $211 bump per year and brings the annual cost of tuition and fees to $9,360 for incoming in-state undergraduates at UNC-Chapel Hill starting next year, if the UNC System agrees.
North Carolina State University is also considering a 3% hike in its tuition.
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