Ross says 30 percent cut possible

The Daily Tar Heel
March 20, 2011
By Daniel Wiser
Fearful administrators can only speculate about the impending damage universities will sustain as the N.C. General Assembly deliberates funding cuts for the UNC system.  At a Sunshine Week conference Thursday about government transparency, UNC-system President Thomas Ross said in a keynote address that the state might reduce funding for the system by as much as 20 or 30 percent — a significant increase from Gov. Bev Perdue’s budget proposal of a 9.5 percent cut.

But legislators said any statement about the state’s allocation of funds for the UNC system would be premature.  Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Buncombe, co-chairman of the N.C. Senate appropriations subcommittee on education, said a 30 percent cut would be “extreme” and is not being considered in the Senate.  The State House and Senate subcommittees are in the process of reviewing measures to close a state budget shortfall of at least $2.4 billion.  Click here to read more.