UNC System President Margaret Spellings began her annual “State of the University System” speech tour Monday night at the Charlotte City Center.
The speech was the first in a series of 8 stops which will cover each region of the state over the course of the spring.
Spellings speech was centered around three major points: economic mobility in the state, contributing to the public good, and accountability for students’ success.
“For too long, higher education has suffered from a ‘send us the money and leave us alone’ attitude,” said Spellings. “What we do is legitimately hard to measure, and many of the benefits we bring to both individuals and the broader society take a long time to mature. So we’ve told people to just trust us…
“That era is over.”
Read the full transcript of President Spellings’ address.
Spellings also lauded recent efforts to increase affordable higher education in the state – such as the NC Promise initiative, which dropped tuition to $500 at UNC Pembroke, Western Carolina, and Elizabeth City State. But she says this is only the beginning.
“All of that represents real progress, but it’s still not enough for the working-class families who need access to opportunity,” said Spellings. “It’s not enough to give hope to high-achieving, low-income students who can envision a path to graduation, but not the means to pay for it.”
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