South By North Strategies, Ltd.

In the latest installment of its series on the North Carolina state budget,  The News & Observer reports on the consequences of reductions in financial aid programs.

The reduction would follow a four-year spate of budget cuts that has forced universities to scale back considerably, with the budget year that starts in July promising to be the roughest yet. The state House’s budget proposal would cut nearly $472 million from the 17-campus university system, a 15 percent reduction in current funding.
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Cuts at that level would force a dramatic change in the way public universities operate, UNC leaders say. Among other reductions, 3,200 jobs would be eliminated. That would include 1,500 faculty slots, about 10 percent of the system’s full-time faculty.
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Republicans, in charge of the legislature for the first time in more than a century, say they will cut taxes, increase user fees, reduce health care for the poor, cut personnel in schools, and force college students to pay for more of their education. They have questioned longtime Democratic priorities and promised to use the budget to reshape North Carolina.
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Though Republicans are targeting universities for significant cuts, the UNC system was hit hard as well during the last four legislative seasons under Democratic rule: $620 million was shaved from its annual budget in that time.