A few dozen students from four North Carolina universities marched to the UNC-system Board of Governors meeting Friday to call on the board to commit to offering a debt-free education.

Student activists with the NC Student Power Union are asking the board to reduce tuition and increase financial aid incrementally so that, by 2020, all students at NC public universities will graduate free of debt.

The group is also requesting a moratorium on cuts to faculty pay and departmental funding, particularly cuts included in recent budgets, and is demanding that the board hold forums open to students, faculty, staff, and members of the community at every Board of Governors meeting.

Casey is kicking off the press conference! Speaking on the important of #DebtFree public education pic.twitter.com/VccPj52mc3 — Student Power NC (@StudentPowerNC) April 11, 2014

From the NC Student Power Union petition:

The mission statement of our university system cites section 9 of the North Carolina Constitution, stating one of its primary missions is “ to provide that the benefits of The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense.” While the language of “free as practicable” leaves room for debate, we as students and residents of North Carolina can be sure that the writers of our state constitution did not envision a UNC that forces young people to take on significant debt to access college. Under current policies, however, we are asking them to do just that. Students and families across North Carolina are increasingly burdened with debt or lack the resources to attend a university due to high tuition and cost increases in higher education. Nationwide, education debt now represents over $1 trillion dollars, higher than credit card debt. While UNC system graduates on average take less debt than their peers in other states, roughly two-thirds of students still leave school with an average of over $15,000 debt. Rising costs and debt has also disproportionately impacted women and students of color. A campus progress study stated that 81% of African American students leave with school with debt, compared with 65% of their white peers. The same study cited that of latino students who chose not to attend college, 74% list financial burden as a primary factor in their decision. While debt numbers for women are consistent to men, the persistent wage gap means women often face a higher burden in paying off their student loans.

Though student debt has become so institutionalized that the idea of a debt-free education might seem far-fetched to some, experiments in other states show that it is a concrete possibility.

The Oregon state legislature last year unanimously approved a “Pay It Forward, Pay It Back” plan developed by Portland State University students to provide free tuition at public universities and community colleges in exchange for graduates contributing a set percentage of their future income.

The panel charged with developing a pilot program for the plan says it is wants to test the “Pay It Forward” system with a randomly selected group of Oregon high school students in 2016.

Via Oregon Live:

The study group’s math says: An Oregon resident who completes a four-year degree at public colleges and universities in Oregon could do so with the state covering the full cost of tuition, fees and books — as long as he or she agrees to pay back 3.5 percent to 4 percent of his earnings for 20 years after graduating.

USA Today reports that legislators in more than 20 states have proposed a variation of the plan.

A number of states, including Tennessee, Oregon, and Missisippi, are also considering offering free tuition at community colleges.

Read more about the #DebtFreeUNC campaign here.

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