Ohio State Tuition waivers would dramatically improve Carolina's ability to compete for the best students. With waivers, only 14 percent of the university's competitors would be offering higher net stipends with their standard package, and only 26 percent would offer better net stipends in their best-recruitment packages. The ability to offer guaranteed funding for multiple years would also significantly improve Carolina's ability to compete for talent. Almost all of Carolina's top competitors guarantee funding for multiple years, so long as the student makes satisfactory progress. In more than half of the disciplines examined, competitors offered multi-year funding while Carolina did not.
Students make a long-term commitment when they enroll in a graduate program.
To attract the best, Carolina must be prepared to make a long-term commitment as well. In 1996, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized special funding that provided health insurance to employed graduate students. This significant step forward is helping the university attract students, since almost all of Carolina's competitors offer this benefit. To sustain this progress, it is essential to ensure that health insurance for graduate-student workers remains a permanent priority for the State of North Carolina.