UNC Kenan-Flagler Planning New Hike in Tuition Fees

In-state MBA students at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School could be facing another big increase in tuition fees—and there may be many more on the way.

Kenan-Flagler has requested, and a university task force last week recommended, an increase in tuition fees of 8.8% for in-state students and 3.7% for out-of-state students in its MBA and accountancy master’s programs.

The increases, which would take effect in the 2015-16 academic year, must first be approved by the chancellor, the Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors of the UNC system, which covers all 16 public universities in North Carolina. A vote by the Board of Governors is not expected until early next year.

If the proposal is approved, in-state tuition would rise by US$3,262 to US$40,328 a year, while out-of-state tuition fees would rise by US$2,054 to US$57,575.

The increase is big, but it’s not Kenan-Flagler’s biggest. In fact the school has raised in-state tuition fees by 12% and 13% in two of the past three years.

Kenan-Flagler’s goal is greater in-state/out-of state equality

Dave Stevens, Kenan-Flagler’s chief financial officer, said the larger proposed increase for in-state tuition is part of a multi-year plan to reduce the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition fees.

The goal, he said, is to have a variance on par with those at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, where in-state tuition is US$54,950 or 95% of out-of-state tuition, and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, where in-state students pay US$54,778 or 92% of fees charged to out-of-state students.

If the UNC tuition proposal is approved, MBA students at Kenan-Flagler will still pay only 70% of what their out-of-state counterparts pay, suggesting that in-state tuition fees at Kenan-Flagler have a long way to go before that goal is reached.

“We would probably never get to the private school model where there is no difference between the two,” Stevens said in an email relayed by school spokesperson, Allison Adams. “But we do plan to continue more aggressive resident tuition increases over the next few years.”

Kenan-Flagler is ranked No. 23 in North America and 15th among US schools in the 2013/14 QS Global 200 Business Schools Report. With a total enrollment of about 570, the school graduates about 280 students a year, with 41% taking jobs in financial services and consulting. Salaries for MBAs with jobs three months post-graduation average US$104,286.