Fayetteville State University (FSU) is set to receive 5 to 6 percent reduction in state funding for the academic year 2013-14.
Chancellor James Anderson said, "A five to six percent cut would be devastating to us. We will have to take extreme measures to make that up. Undoubtedly, people will lose their jobs. We will have to cut positions and people will have to absorb job responsibility."
The university already faced a 4.3 percent cut ($2.1 million) this year due to declining enrollment. They were in a similar position last year too, wherein $8.4 million was cut from their funds.
Protesting the state budget cuts to North Carolina colleges, some students staged a rally Wednesday outside the North Carolina Department of Administration.
They said that Gov. Pat McCrory's proposed state budget slashes could increase student dropouts.
Western Carolina University student, Thomas Allison, said that everyone is aware of the fallout of tuition increases and budget cuts.
Allison said that she was willing to work hard to pay for her tuition, but, if the fee gets costlier day by day, she will be left with no other choice but to discontinue her education.
Last week McCrory decreased the state budget by more than $140 million for the UNC system for next year. At the same time, he also proposed hiking tuition for out-of-state students by 12 percent at the UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and four other campuses.
The North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus said that these initiatives put the future of higher education in doubt.
Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, said that raising tuition fee and at the same time providing minimum financial support to these institutions is going to threaten the quality of education, teaching and research projects.
