UNC-Chapel Hill will pay a $1 million penalty for exceeding the system’s cap on out-of-state students. The Board of Governors approved the fine at its meeting Friday.
For the past two years, students from outside of North Carolina have made up slightly more than 18 percent of Chapel Hill’s freshman class. When that happens, the Board of Governors decides whether to penalize a school. The university’s chancellor Carol Folt told the board it was an honest mistake. The school’s predictions were simply off.
Most UNC-system schools are well below the 18 percent cap. But a couple regularly go over it. Chapel Hill had to pay a penalty in 2011, but the board gave them a pass the following year.
Board member Steven Long said it doesn’t make sense to have a policy you don’t enforce.
“Parents are concerned about the accessibility of NC State, Carolina, East Carolina, all of our schools. There is a policy reason for having the 18 percent cap,” said Long.
The money from the fine goes to a fund for need-based financial aid.
