Western Carolina University will start charging students $500 a semester beginning fall of 2018, as part of North Carolina's budget approved Friday by the Legislature.Legislators included provisions for the tuition plan, referred to as a "tuition buy-down," as part of the state budget bill approved earlier this week by the state Senate.WCU is among three University of North Carolina schools for the NC Promise Tuition Plan.The other two UNC system schools are the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Elizabeth City State University.In addition to the reduced tuition for in-state students, out-of-state students will pay $2,500 per semester under the new plan.The bill now goes to Gov. Pat McCrory for his signature, which political observers expect within days.The budget legislation also locks in tuition expenses at all UNC system schools so that students will pay the same amount each semester for four years.It also caps the cumulative total of increases in all undergraduate student fees to 3 percent per year, and creates a merit-based scholarship program for students at two historically black UNC institutions: N.C. A&T State University and N.C. Central University."We share the goal - evidenced in the NC Promise Tuition Plan and a new merit scholarship program - to keep college affordable and make the cost to students and families more predictable and stable," said Margaret Spellings, UNC system president. "Such tangible support for UNC is vitally important to the economic future of North Carolina, and we thank the General Assembly for this show of confidence in our public universities."As part of the budget document, legislators inserted specific language mandating that the state cover the difference between undergraduate students' out-of-pocket costs for tuition at the three NC Promise campuses and the actual cost of providing that education.The bill said that the director of the budget "…shall authorize an increase in the base budget of the University of North Carolina of up to $40 million each fiscal year to cover the cost of the 'buy-down' that fiscal year and shall allocate the appropriate sum to each constituent institution."

Western Carolina University will start charging students $500 a semester beginning fall of 2018, as part of North Carolina's budget approved Friday by the Legislature.



Legislators included provisions for the tuition plan, referred to as a "tuition buy-down," as part of the state budget bill approved earlier this week by the state Senate.

WCU is among three University of North Carolina schools for the NC Promise Tuition Plan.




The other two UNC system schools are the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Elizabeth City State University.



In addition to the reduced tuition for in-state students, out-of-state students will pay $2,500 per semester under the new plan.



The bill now goes to Gov. Pat McCrory for his signature, which political observers expect within days.



The budget legislation also locks in tuition expenses at all UNC system schools so that students will pay the same amount each semester for four years.



It also caps the cumulative total of increases in all undergraduate student fees to 3 percent per year, and creates a merit-based scholarship program for students at two historically black UNC institutions: N.C. A&T State University and N.C. Central University.





"We share the goal - evidenced in the NC Promise Tuition Plan and a new merit scholarship program - to keep college affordable and make the cost to students and families more predictable and stable," said Margaret Spellings, UNC system president. "Such tangible support for UNC is vitally important to the economic future of North Carolina, and we thank the General Assembly for this show of confidence in our public universities."



As part of the budget document, legislators inserted specific language mandating that the state cover the difference between undergraduate students' out-of-pocket costs for tuition at the three NC Promise campuses and the actual cost of providing that education.



The bill said that the director of the budget "…shall authorize an increase in the base budget of the University of North Carolina of up to $40 million each fiscal year to cover the cost of the 'buy-down' that fiscal year and shall allocate the appropriate sum to each constituent institution."