Western Carolina University Chancellor John Bardo is urging state representatives to vote against a proposal that would allow select universities to set their own tuition instead of the statewide board that now governs tuition for universities.

In a letter to state leaders, Bardo said allowing some universities autonomy in setting their own tuition would “set a dangerous precedent and (one that) contradicts the very reason the (university) system was created. Setting tuition is a matter that should appropriately be left to the Board of Governors to preserve the unity, integrity and strength of the system.”

Senate leader Marc Basnight is the main backer of the plan to give N.C. State University and UNC-Chapel Hill tuition autonomy and is fighting tooth and nail over it in Raleigh. In addition to tuition autonomy, the proposal would allow those universities to offer in-state tuition to out-of-state students in order to lure them on athletic, academic and artistic scholarships.

Bardo objects to this as well, citing $37 million in lost revenue it would create for the university system.

“Additionally, (out-of-state) scholarship students would be treated as in-state students in calculating the 18 percent cap on out-of-state enrollment effectively raising the cap...and likely reducing access for North Carolina students,” Bardo wrote.

— By Becky Johnson