Not Just Chapel Hill: Citizens For Higher Education Helps Entire UNC System
(March 21, 2007) Citizens for Higher Education is a group that exercises its First Amendment rights to free speech and to petition the government.
Though its members are generally supporters of UNC-Chapel Hill, the group does work that benefits all 16 UNC campuses. Supporters of other campuses are free to organize similar efforts – and have. It would be ironic for any group on a university campus to oppose the exercise of free speech.
Among the efforts Citizens for Higher Education has made to help the entire UNC system:
- Citizens for Higher Education is pushing this year for higher faculty salaries not just at Chapel Hill, but at all campuses in the UNC system.
- To the extent Citizens for Higher Education and other groups win more state funds for public higher education, they help limit pressure on tuition at schools in the UNC system.
- In 2006, Citizens for Higher Education supported movement of university enrollment growth projections into the state’s continuation budget. This effectively removed a $70+ million chip from legislative budget negotiations each year, and it benefits all campuses. Because enrollment is limited at Chapel Hill, this move tends to benefit smaller schools and historically black universities – many of which have higher costs per student – more than it does UNC-Chapel Hill.
- Citizens for Higher Education worked to increase tax deductions for contributions to North Carolina’s 529 college savings plans – a move that rewards college savings no matter where a student goes to school.
- Citizens for Higher Education supports creation of a dental school at East Carolina University in conjunction with expansion of the UNC-Chapel Hill dental school to better meet dental needs statewide.
