Image: UNC System
The University of North Carolina system is seeking $89 million in additional state funding for the 2025-26 fiscal year, UNC System officials told state lawmakers on Wednesday.
The request includes $46.4 million for enrollment growth, $30 million for a new performance-based funding pool, $9 million for the NC Promise tuition program, and $3.7 million for building reserves.
Jennifer Haygood, the UNC System’s chief financial officer, said the requests are critical to supporting students and institutions.
The enrollment growth funding would help cover the cost of an expected increase in student credit hours across the 16-campus system. Haygood said the request represents a rebound after pandemic-related enrollment declines.
Lawmakers on the House and Senate Education Appropriations subcommittees also heard a proposal for a new $30 million recurring “performance funding pool.” This would reward campuses that show improvement on metrics like graduation rates and timely degree completion.
The UNC system is also seeking additional funding to maintain the NC Promise program, which caps undergraduate tuition at $500 for in-state students at four UNC System institutions — Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, UNC-Pembroke, and Western Carolina University.
Other requests include $3.2 million in recurring funds and $500,000 in one-time money for operating costs of new facilities.
Committee members raised questions about the flexibility and implementation of the performance funding model. Some suggested incorporating job placement data as an additional metric.
Separately, the UNC System is requesting funds for enhanced resiliency and emergency management resources for its western institutions. Haygood said the request is driven by lessons learned from the impacts of Hurricane Helene which caused significant but manageable damage at some campuses.
She noted that while most facility repair costs are expected to be covered by insurance and FEMA, the system is seeking non-recurring funds to improve emergency communications, generators, and other infrastructure to better prepare for future natural disasters.
Haygood also asked the committee for budget flexibility on $5 million previously appropriated for unmet Hurricane Helene repair needs. “We think that between insurance and FEMA that we are likely largely going to cover that, and so we may not need that full five million to repair. But if we had the flexibility to invest in these resiliencies, that would still, I think the investment that was very valuable to our institutions and would help support our response to future natural disasters,” Haygood said.
Committee co-chair Rep. John Willis (R-Union County) suggested a system-wide approach to addressing urgent facility needs, rather than focusing solely on campuses impacted by the Helene. “I would suggest that we take a system wide approach and look at the most urgent needs across the system for those because, I think out of the 15 campuses that we have, there are some urgent, urgent needs that were not impacted by the storm itself,” Willis said.
No action on the UNC System request was taken Tuesday as the meeting was, like other joint appropriations meetings taking place in late February and early March, part of the information gathering process that will lead to the construction and unveiling of an omnibus budget bill sometime in the spring.