UNC to offer free tuition to NC students after Supreme Court ruling. See who qualifies.

Roughly a week after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its race-conscious admissions policy in a landmark ruling, UNC-Chapel Hill on Friday announced plans to “expand opportunity” to attend the university — including by offering free tuition to some students.

In a message to campus Friday, UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said the university will provide free tuition to undergraduate students from North Carolina whose families make less than $80,000 per year, “beginning with the incoming class in 2024.”

Those students will apply to the university in the upcoming admissions cycle and will be the first group to do so after the Supreme Court ruled race can no longer be considered as a factor in admissions.

“We want to make sure students know financial constraints should not stand in the way of their dreams,” Guskiewicz said. “We will be sharing details about this exciting new opportunity within the next few weeks.”

The university lists tuition for in-state students enrolled full-time at the university in the 2023-2024 academic year as $7,020 per year. Fees amount to almost $2,000 per year.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income for North Carolina households is about $60,500.

In addition to covering tuition for some students, Guskiewicz also said the university has hired additional “outreach officers” as part of the university’s admissions team, who will serve “in under-resourced communities to spread awareness of our affordability and recruit students from across the state.”

“We want the best students to know that a UNC-Chapel Hill education is a possibility for them,” Guskiewicz said.

Duke previously announced free tuition for some NC, SC students

UNC’s announcement makes it the latest, but not the first, elite university in the Triangle to offer free tuition to local students in recent weeks.

In mid-June, less than two weeks before the Supreme Court’s decision, Duke University announced it would begin offering free tuition — roughly $64,000 per year — to current and incoming students from North Carolina and South Carolina whose families make $150,000 or less. Duke students from those states with family incomes of $65,000 or less will be offered additional assistance for food, housing and other fees.

Duke expects about 340 students to benefit from the offer in the upcoming academic year.

Duke did not explicitly tie its announcement to a then-pending decision by the Supreme Court to eliminate the consideration of race in admissions.

But elite and selective colleges, including UNC and Duke, are most likely to be impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision, as they were the most likely to consider race in admissions prior to the ruling, and increasing financial aid has been proposed as one way for colleges to continue to achieve diversity on their campuses without considering race.

In announcing its free tuition program, UNC also highlighted other scholarship and affordability programs it already offers, including the Carolina Covenant and the Blue Sky Scholars program.

The Carolina Covenant offers students the opportunity to graduate from the university debt-free, if they are from families whose income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, or $30,000 for a family of four in 2023. The Blue Sky Scholars program, established in 2018, provides financial aid for North Carolina students from “middle-income” families who do not qualify for the Carolina Covenant.

UNC won’t consider ‘race for race’s sake’

Guskiewicz also provided additional insight into changes in the university’s admissions practices that may come as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The ruling means that race cannot be used as a factor in admissions, but in the court’s majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts suggested universities may still be able to consider an applicant’s race in some way, as it ties to their personal experiences.

Previously, the university considered race as one of dozens of factors in its admissions process.

Guskiewicz said the university “will follow the Supreme Court’s decision in all respects.” That means race will no longer be considered as a factor in admissions decisions, he said, but the university may consider how an applicant’s race-related experiences might reveal information about a student’s character, so long as those experiences are not “credited as ‘race for race’s sake.’”

“Our responsibility to comply with the law does not mean we will abandon our fundamental values as a university,” Guskiewicz said. “We are and will remain passionately public, and we will ensure that every student who earns admission to Carolina can come here and thrive. Our University’s commitment to access and affordability and supporting a culture of belonging for everyone does not change with last week’s ruling.”