Possible name changes for campuses are no longer part of a senate billthat would drastically cut tuition at five UNC system schools and fix tuition at others.
Every so often the idea comes up of putting the UNC moniker on the names of state universities that struggle with enrollment. That happened to UNC-Pembroke, formerly Pembroke State University, in 1996.
This bill had many alums of some of the state's historically black universities worried their school's name would disappear. But the bill's sponsor Tom Apodaca says the bill no longer deals with the naming of schools.
"A lot of people really sweated to get these universities up and running and the name is all some of us have left, so I really appreciate you taking that out," Senator Gladys Robinson told Apodaca.
When the bill was filed earlier this month, it directed the UNC system to evaluate what effect names had on schools as far as the number, academic strength, and diversity of student applications.
The bill would reduce tuition at Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, UNC-Pembroke, Winston-Salem State University, and Western Carolina University. Apodaca says he hopes that will boost enrollment at those schools. It would also lock in tuition for four years at UNC system schools, so students wouldn't have to worry about tuition hikes mid-way through their college stints.
