UNC’s graduating class of 2020 – the incoming freshmen of this year – can budget their four years of college spending a little easier than their older siblings. Now, the math is simple – just multiply tuition by four.

For the first time in the UNC system, students will pay the same amount of tuition during their first year of college as they will during their last, thanks to a new policy in the state budget that includes a tuition freeze across the system.

“For first year students, what it will mean is that the tuition he pays when he enrolls, when she enrolls, will be the tuition the student pays for four years,” said Steve Farmer, the vice provost for enrollment and undergraduate admissions at UNC.

The in-state tuition freeze for all schools in the system, will create a guaranteed amount for all four years – which Farmer said translates to stability and consistency.

“There’ll be great predictability from start to finish of what a student will pay in terms of tuition.”

Farmer said the university will strive to keep tuition costs low over the course of the coming years, adding that adjustments to the tuition should be small and predictable.

“We’re going to have to work hard to make sure that we establish the right tuition levels for each entering class so that we can continue to fund the kind of experience our students want.”

UNC is currently limited by a cap on financial aid. No more than 15 percent of the revenue produced by tuition can be redistributed to students as financial aid. Despite the new tuition freeze, Farmer said the amount of financial aid given to students will not be affected.

“I don’t think financial aid is at risk in the legislation at all. And at the same time I think it’s not the price that we publish buts it’s the price they can afford to pay.”

Farmer said there are several factors that influence a student’s decision to attend a certain school. He listed the cost of tuition as one factor, but said student diversity, academic rigor and extracurricular programs are also important to the student body.

“We also pay attention to cost, but we’re also obligated to pay attention to something else. And that something else is the quality of the experience that we offer our students, so every single student at Carolina benefits from our ability to make sure every student gets into Carolina to attend.”

The tuition freeze is effective this fall across all 16 universities in the system, affecting more than 40,000 incoming students.