AN ACT to study the impact of establishing a reduced fixed four‑year tuition plan for constituent institutions of the UNIVERSITY of north carolina and to appropriate funds to conduct the study.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University (the Friday Institute) shall conduct a study of the impact of establishing an in‑State tuition rate for undergraduate students at the constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina, other than the institutions participating in the NC Promise Tuition Plan established pursuant to G.S. 116‑143.11, at a fixed rate of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per semester for four academic years of continuous student enrollment. The Friday Institute shall consider in its study at least all of the following:

(1)        The amount of time in which The University of North Carolina could feasibly transition to a reduced fixed rate tuition plan for in‑State undergraduate students, including whether the reduced fixed rate tuition plan could begin with the 2022‑2023 academic year.

(2)        The economic impact on families and undergraduate students to have an opportunity to attend a constituent institution under the plan, including reduction of student loan debt and long‑term financial benefits.

(3)        The economic impact on enrollment at constituent institutions by each institution and the corresponding effect on the budgets of those institutions.

(4)        The sustainable cost for campuses that are already near or at the tuition rate of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per semester for a four‑year period.

(5)        Projected obligations for State appropriations to cover the costs of reduced tuition receipts and enrollment changes under the plan.

(6)        The financial impact of a fixed fee policy where student fees remain the same throughout a student's four years of enrollment at an institution on campus projects and programs.

(7)        The extent to which fees may be raised to support student services on campuses.

SECTION 1.(b)  By February 1, 2022, the Friday Institute shall report to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Education/Higher Education, the House Appropriations Committee on Education, the Fiscal Research Division, and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the results of the study required by subsection (a) of this section.

SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2021‑2022 fiscal year to be allocated to the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University to conduct the study required by Section 1 of this act.

SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2021.