University system leaders want to bring back a policy that allows North Carolina School of Science and Math students to have free tuition if they choose to attend a UNC system school.

The policy was put into place in 2004 and lasted until 2010. When it was in place, almost 75 percent of NCSSM students attended UNC schools. Now, less than 60 percent of students opt to attend a school in the UNC system.

Chairman of the UNC Board of Governors Lou Bissette said the tuition waiver has been added to the system’s budget request, which needs approval from the General Assembly. He said the proposal would cost taxpayers up to 1.5 million dollars per year.

“That’s the cream of our crop here in North Carolina and I think that’s a very important request of the legislature,” he said. “And it’s not a lot of money, so I think that can make a real difference – not only to those students but to our university and to our state.”

UNC System President Margaret Spellings says without the incentive of free tuition, it’s hard to keep NCSSM students from attending other prestigious universities.

“What happens is they get recruited to Ivies and whatnot,” she said. “I mean, we invest heavily in them, and we ought to try and keep them here.”

The school already receives 20 million dollars from taxpayers each year. Bissette said it’s important to continue to invest in these students, who apply to attend the school in tenth grade. The school typically accepts students with particularly high standardized test scores. Bissette said keeping them here could increase the number of college graduates in North Carolina with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math.

“I’d hate to lose these students to other states and other universities after we’ve spent a lot of money educating them through the School of Science and Math,” he said. “And we’re spending more because we’re going to have a western campus.”

NCSSM is continuing to plan for the possibility of a Western Campus and is looking at Morganton in Burke County as a possible location. The request for funding the tuition policy will be part of the overall budget request to the General Assembly.

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