This is something that the UNC and community college systems have
wanted for several years, at least since I’ve been around the Pope
Center. This is bad fiscal policy in my opinion. If my observations and
understanding are correct, this would allow UNC and community college
leaders to request any amount for enrollment growth that they wish,
based upon their formula, and the public would have a hard time, under
the current rules and processes, finding out how much was requested.
This is because most of the information that is given about budget
requests fall under the expansion budget, or items that must be
approved year to year.
There was nothing wrong with UNC and
community colleges asking for this money each year. The state
Constitution, as others have said in the past, only requires a free
public education but doesn’t necessarily mean a free higher education.
That line in the Constitution has been used by many to promote this
line item in the budget in the past.
