The status of UNC Tuition Grant for NCSSM Graduates remains unchanged since the update posted earlier this year, meaning that legislators will not likely decide the fate of the grant before families and students must make college choices later this month. For that reason, the tuition grant should not factor into your college decision-making process.

However, the proposal may still be deliberated and approved over the summer during the larger biennium budgeting process, which may not conclude until July or later. If this measure were to pass in its current form, the Class of 2021 would receive the tuition benefit for at least two years. The Class of 2022 would receive the benefit for at least one year. (Note that due to the nature of the biennium  process, expenditures are not approved for more than two years at a time.) See this website to track the progress of this NC Senate Bill 108 (Tuition Grants for NCSSM Graduates).

Unfortunately, the Tuition Grant for NCSSM Graduates is not a priority of the UNC System for the upcoming biennium and is therefore not on our own list of NCSSM State Budget Priorities for 2020-2021. However, officers of our Parent Association are independently contacting legislators in support of the grant. Contact members of the Parent Association Executive Committee to learn more.

As NCSSM’s legislative liaison, I remain available to answer your questions and those from legislators about this matter. Contact me at (919) 416-2864 or winslow@ncssm.edu

Submitted by Brock Winslow, Vice Chancellor for External Relations