North Carolina A&T’s Grace Nwokocha wins the women’s 100-meter dash at the Drake Relays athletics meet, Saturday, April 30, 2022, in Des Moines, Iowa. The school she competes for stands to los $2 million in funding due to an arcane rule about out-of-state enrollment.Photo: Charlie Neibergall (AP)
North Carolina A&T University is having seven-figures in funding stripped away by the state’s legislature in a move that some say equates to the state punishing the HBCU for its success at attracting students.
Small Town Horror Story: Juneteenth & The Aftermath of Slavery
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The funding move stems from the rules governing funding of state universities in North Carolina that are designed to ensure that in-state students aren’t shut out of a competitive admissions process. The rules call for limits on the percentage of out-of-state students in each class, and were mostly intended for larger schools in the North Carolina system, such as UNC Chapel Hill, which has nearly 25,000 students.
North Carolina A&T has about half that, with just over 13,000 students, about 11,000 of which are full time. But lately, the campus has seen an influx of interest and applications, part of a wave of renewed interest in HBCUs broadly. The result is that the current freshman class went over its limit for out-of-state students—by 171 enrollees. That triggered the University of North Carolina System’s Board of Governors to vote to decrease funding for the campus in the current fiscal year by $1,976,546.
But not every board member was in favor.
From the News & Observer
Board member Joel Ford of Charlotte asked that the vote on the decision be pulled from the consent agenda for discussion Thursday. The issue, he said, was discussed at length Wednesday, when board members held various committee meetings.
“I cannot support this particular item punishing a HMSI (Historically Minority-Serving Institution) for ultimately, Mr. Chairman, for being successful,” Ford said during Thursday’s meeting. “We have out-of-state students who want to attend one of our institutions because of its history and because of their ability to make good and deliver on a promise to provide a high-quality education.”
