Western Carolina University

WCU is a University of North Carolina Campus

Case Statement

Western Carolina University stands at an extraordinary moment in its 118-year history. The University has experienced unprecedented growth. In enrollment. In faculty. In magnet programs preparing students for careers and leadership in a 21st-century world. In state-of-the-art facilities. In space for campus expansion.

Some of the nation’s finest professors teach and conduct research on our campus. The construction management program is bursting at the seams, having grown from 26 to 350 students in just four years. Forensic anthropology ranks among the most popular career tracks in the Southeast. Electronic media labs include the finest digital audio and video equipment in the United States. Theatre students learn from the best of Broadway. The marching band trains under the baton of a hall-of-fame director. Business students enroll in classes and seminars led by the nation’s foremost economic forecaster. You get the idea. Western’s instructional faculty are a point of pride. And we’re looking for more just like them.

The future for gifted students of all ages—as well as the success of our businesses and our communities—depends on access to a world class education, an education that prepares graduates for successful careers in an increasingly complex and global society, for leadership in business and government, and in communities where they choose to live. An education that we have come to identify as a Western Carolina University education.

Throughout American higher education, the level of private support tips the balance, turning good universities into great universities. Good faculties and academic programs into great faculties and programs. Good graduates into great graduates. For the first time, Western Carolina University is asking its alumni and friends to help provide that level of private support.

Making the Case for the Campaign

Western Carolina University is among the most efficient and affordable universities in North Carolina. Improving that position in today’s higher education marketplace has become increasingly difficult for the University, just as meeting the costs of higher education has become ever more difficult for students and their families. Great faculty teaching ever-evolving programs in our ever-changing world are essential to a great education. Stronger private sector support is necessary for Western to overcome those obstacles and position our students to succeed in a competitive, global environment.

Almost 43 percent of the $174,751,262 required to operate the University in fiscal year 2006 was supplied by state appropriations; 16.4 percent by student tuition and fees; 13.5 percent by auxiliary enterprises, such as dining halls and residence halls; the remaining 27.3 percent by grants and contracts and miscellaneous non-operating sources.

Student costs for Western’s world-class education are among the lowest in the state—$8,405 for academic year 2006. Yet 73 percent of freshmen who entered Western in August 2006 found it necessary to request financial aid. Sixty-eight percent of applicants were awarded grants, scholarships, or loans. Scholarships and grant awards averaged $4,696 per recipient. Forty-nine percent of freshmen needed additional money and secured loans averaging $2,998.

Scholarships and grants simply are not available to meet the level of need. More and more students must borrow more and more money to complete their education or find jobs, replacing education with work and delaying graduation. Seventy-five percent of Western’s students require longer than four years to earn a four-year degree. The average student owes $17,782 in loan repayments at graduation. Extending time to graduation creates a triple whammy. State taxpayers must appropriate more money, students wishing to enroll find seats already occupied by students extending their collegiate journey, and in all too many instances students on slower graduation tracks must borrow more.

Creating Extraordinary Opportunities

Western Carolina University’s ability to compete successfully on these fronts will define to a great extent the future of Western North Carolina, and, indeed, the future of North Carolina, the success of our children and grandchildren, our economy, and our communities. To that end, Western seeks to expand significantly private support in three crucial areas:

1) Scholarship endowments to ensure access to a Western education and ease the financial burden for academically talented young men and women. Scholarship endowments may be created to support any academic course of study or athletic program.
2) Endowed professorships that will make it possible for Western to attract and retain the very best teachers, scholars, and creative minds in many different fields of study. So important to North Carolina is this initiative that state government matches private contributions for this purpose—dollar-for-dollar at four levels from $250,000 to $1 million.
3) Program endowments that will enable faculty to broaden educational experiences for students in all disciplines.

That is the challenge in this, Western’s first major fundingraising effort. Those who came before us paved the way for our generation. Now it is our turn to create extraordinary opportunities for the generations of young men and women counting on us. Together, we can succeed.

Now is our time.