A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide an incentive for students in the University system to graduate on time.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 14 of Chapter 116 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 116‑143.7.  Tuition surcharge.
The Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina shall ensure that procedures are established that are necessary to impose a one hundred percent (100%) tuition surcharge on students who take more than 140 degree credit hours to complete a baccalaureate degree in a four‑year program or more than one hundred ten percent (110%) of the credit hours necessary to complete a baccalaureate degree in any program officially designated by the Board of Governors as a five‑year program. The calculation of these credit hours taken at a constituent institution or accepted for transfer shall exclude hours earned through the College Board's Advanced Placement or CLEP examinations, through institutional advanced placement or course validation, or through summer term or extension programs. No surcharge shall be imposed on any student who exceeds the degree credit hour limits within the equivalent of four academic years of regular term enrollment, or within five academic years of regular term enrollment in a degree program officially designated by the Board of Governors as a five‑year program."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to all new undergraduates seeking a baccalaureate degree at a constituent institution.