THE CASH STUFF FOR OCTOBER 3, 2024

                                                       DR. PAULETTE DILLARD

AGAINST WAVE OF

SMALL COLLEGE

CLOSURES, SAU &

SHAW STRUGGLE 

TO SURVIVE

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

        Editor's note - this is part two of a two-part series.

In all probability, you’ve never heard of  Cabrini University in Radnor Pa., Cazenovia University near Syracuse, NY or Hodges University in Fort Myers, Fla.. And unless the discussion is about small, private, predominately white tuition-dependent colleges or universities that were among the 91 since 2016 that, according to CNBC, “…have closed, merged, or announced plans to close,” you never will.

But if you’re here in North Carolina, you probably are familiar with St. Augustine’s University (SAU) in Raleigh, founded in 1867; Shaw University in Raleigh, founded in 1865 (the oldest in the South); Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, founded in 1873; Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, founded in 1867, or Livingstone College in Salisbury, founded in 1879.

Those are the five small, private, tuition-based historically Black colleges and universities in the state..

Add to those Barber-Scotia College in Concord, founded in 1867. The school lost its accreditation twenty years ago, and today, operates with only four students enrolled. It is working to regain its accreditation.

And you may have also heard of Kittrell College in Vance County, founded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1886. In 1975, because of low enrollment, that school was forced to close.

Here in North Carolina, which is blessed with ten fully functioning HBCUs, all five private institutions are at risk of going the way of Barber-Scotia or Kittrell, because their share of available students is being depleted primarily because of strong competition from state-supported institutions like N.C. A&T University and N.C. Central University, or discounted tuition schools like Fayetteville State University or Elizabeth City State University.

Small private colleges, especially HBCUs, also have small endowments, with no real way to generate revenue because of tuition-based enrollments falling, rising costs and lackluster fundraising. Many are still recovering from the pandemic.

Right now, at least one of those small, private HBCUs - Shaw University in Raleigh - saw the hand writing on the wall, and has made long-term, albeit controversial moves to stay alive into the future. The school has created the “Shaw U District”, and university leaders believe that leasing portions of Shaw’s downtown 27-acre campus to outside developers for retail - residential and office developments will create the necessary, and constant revenue stream required to upgrade its facilities and physical plant.

In turn, according to Shaw University Pres. Dr. Paulette Dillard, Shaw will be able to compete for students against better resourced colleges and universities.

"We have to be able to appeal to a broad sector of students. And that means amenities have to be consistent with that," Dr. Dillard told WTVD-11 in August 2023 "And that takes money."

Based on Shaw University’s announced planning, it seems that the school has already determined how to chart the course for its future, and neither merger nor closing its doors are part of that plan.

Across town at St. Augustine’s University, however, “life -support” seems to be the appropriate term for that embattled HBCU's current status. Faced with lawsuits, a diminished student enrollment (just 200 this academic year, down from a high of over 1,500), a mountain of debt and weak reinstatement of its accreditation, the school’s problems seem to be text book for what traditionally drags a small college to the brink of closure.

Last February, prominent Raleigh business leaders Jim Goodmon, chairman of Capital Broadcasting Co.; Smedes York, co-owner and chairman of McDonald-York Building Co., and Orage Quarles, former publisher of The News and Observer Newspaper, met with SAU Board Chair Brian Boulware and Interim Pres. Marcus Burgess; Shaw University Pres. Dillard and her board Chairman Joseph Bell Jr., to discuss the fact that both schools faced questionable futures, and it made sense for them to consider merger, or at least sharing operational resources.

“The idea was to present the option for [both schools] to think about getting together because of their declining enrollments,” Mr. York, whose great, great, great uncle was one of the founders of St. Augustine’s University, said during an interview last July.

Mr. Quarles, who said little at that meeting, but listened intently, made clear that the intention of the meeting was only to help both schools.

“I realize that one is Baptist and one is Episcopalian, but I’m trying to make sure they survive because everyday, you see small colleges around the country closing. This is something not unique to Raleigh, not unique to HBCU’s. Small colleges all around the country are closing,”  Quarles, an African-American, said.

“Both schools have land, so I was thinking, is there a way that both schools can survive as one, and if they can, that makes sense.”

SAU Chairman Boulware insists that meeting was called to pressure both SAU and Shaw U into a merger that would free up Shaw’s downtown property for developers, but Goodman, York and Quarles deny that, and Shaw leaders had already made a deal with developers that allowed development on some of its property. And those plans are going forward.

Given the trend of small, private tuition-based colleges either closing or merging across the country in recent years, St. Augustine’s University, in particular, will have to make some tough decisions in the coming years about its future.

But time is running out.

-30-

OVER 747,000 VOTERS ARE 

REMOVED FROM THE

VOTER ROLLS BY NCSBE

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

If you have moved within the state since the last election without updating your address, or missed voting in the last two federal elections, there’s a good possibility that you’re among the 747, 274 out of North Carolina’s 7.7 million registered voters who were recently removed from the state’s voting rolls.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections recently announced that it purged its voting rolls of those registered voters it considers to be ineligible to vote for the 2024 election. The reasons for the purge include moving within the state without notifying the local county board of election (289,902 removed); failing to vote in two federal elections within the past eight years (246,311); deceased (130,688); moved from state (31, 242); duplicating/merged voter registration (26, 939); felony conviction (18, 883); request from voter (2,329); other (980)

It is not publicly known how many of the 747,274 removed are either Democrat or Republican. Add to that a lawsuit by the NC Republican Party seeking the removal of 225,000 registered voters it says are ineligible because “…certain statutorily required information” was not collected during the registration of those voters.

"List maintenance is one of the primary responsibilities of election officials across North Carolina, and we take this responsibility seriously," said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. "Unfortunately, there is a lot of false information out there about our voter rolls and the efforts we undertake to keep them up to date. As we conduct these processes, we also must comply with state and federal laws and be careful not to remove any eligible voters."

Bell added that the process of removing ineligible voters from the voting list is ongoing.

Reportedly, county boards of election removed an average of over 1,200 registered voters a day since the beginning of 2023 to August 2024. Only those voters officially deemed ineligible were removed.

The state Court of Appeals has also ruled that college students attending UNC at Chapel Hill cannot use their approved digital identification as a valid form of voter ID.

        Bishop William Barber, co-convener of the Poor People's Campaign, issued a statement  urging North Carolinians to check online to ensure that they are properly registered to vote.

       "I encourage you to visit Vote.org/ppc to check your registration status and review important deadlines ahead of the elections. You can also use the link to register to vote, find your local polling place, request an absentee ballot if you need to, and review your ballot ahead of time."

        The General Election is November 5th.

                                                                   -30-

THE CASH COMMENTARY FOR SEPT. 30TH, 2024

                                                                   CASH MICHAELS

                       THE (Almost) GREAT NEWSPAPER ROBBERY

                                by Cash Michaels

  This week, my commentary is not about politics, but it damn sure is about 

dishonesty, what I did about it, and how there is a lesson in my experience for

everybody. So please pay attention.

Last week, I was paying bills as always, when I noticed something very weird.

One of my credit card balances wasn’t going down as it was supposed to, even though I’ve been paying a good chunk of change to lower it every month. I had already paid off one card, and was looking forward to doing the same with my second card.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that at least $500.00 had been charged to my card, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why, or for what.

Don’t you hate that feeling, when money is just flying out of your pockets and you don’t know how or why?

Well I’m flat-out lazy about a lot of things, but not about this. Not about that kind of money with my name on it going somewhere without my permission, or even knowledge.

So I carefully checked the credit card statement, and found the culprit - a $514.79 charge from “N&O Subscription" with the name “G. Jimenez@ MCCL NC” attached.

Folks, I get to see The News & Observer Newspaper on occasion because my wife gets it on her phone, so I don’t need to subscribe anymore, and haven’t for some time. I knew for a fact that I had cancelled whatever subscription I did have in an effort to trim household expenses months ago, so owing them any money, and certainly $514.79, was simply out of the question.

At first I started to call the credit card company, but I realized all they would do is tell me to call the N&O, so that’s what I did, determined to fix this bad boy.

$514.79…out of MY pocket…without MY say-so? Uh-Uhhhh! Someone was going to talk to me about this!

Needless to say, finding the customer care number was a chore, and then dealing with the recorded customer care choices that didn’t allow for my particular complaint to be considered was also a drudgery, but finally I got a live customer care agent on the phone.

It was difficult communicating with the so-called "agent," which made my task twice as hard as it should have been. After registering my complaint, and how I wanted every penny of my $514.79 back, this “agent” then asked me if I had proof that I ever cancelled my N&O subscription?

Well what kind of “proof” am I supposed to have? I called or emailed, cancelled my subscription before renewal, and you folks stopped service. Simple. And it has been stopped ever since. In fact, since you asked for “proof,” I can’t get into your website to read any stories now, and it’s been that way since the day I cancelled. So there’s your “proof,” I declared. You say you have in your records that I was once a subscriber, but you don’t have in your records when I cancelled?

Well guess what? That’s your problem! I just want the money back you took from me last week, I demanded.

Then came the part that really made me mad!

“Sir, I’m sorry this has happened to you, but you have no proof that you ever cancelled your subscription, and I have no proof of it on this end in my records either,” the N&O agent said.“So what I can do is offer you maybe a $270.00 refund…..”

I swear I didn’t hear the rest of what the poor guy said, because I was NOT interested. I was NOT going to compromise on getting back ALL of my money taken, and I was absolutely insulted that homeboy “agent” was even talking such rubbish.

That’s when my mother, GOD rest her soul, came out of her eternal grave, grabbed my heart, mouth and spine, and turned me into someone I rarely am in my old age.

Her.

See, when I was a kid, my mother had a nose for folks who tried to flim-flam her, and made them pay with a considerable piece of her mind for just thinking about taking her to the cleaners. Mom suffered no fools back in the day!

       There would be NONE of that, NOT while she was still breathing, and if she taught me anything, as long as I drew breath and had a family to support, I should NEVER tolerate it either.

So I wasn’t going for that agent’s $270.00 "deal," NOT by a long shot!

I immediately demanded his supervisor. Mom taught me don’t waste time with the small fry, either.

        Go to the Big Fish when it comes to getting your money back. So even though the agent was none too happy with my insistence, he eventually put his supervisor, “Alex,” on the phone.

I calmly explained how my $514.79 apparently found a new, but undeserving home with the N&O subscription service, and I wanted my money back pronto. But now Alex tries out his “let me talk this sucker down” spiel too, which really made me mad.

Again with this, “What evidence do you have that you cancelled your subscription, sir, because I have nothing here in our records to prove that ever happened” business. Alex then told me they can’t use my name to track down proof (though they apparently used it to prove that I once had a subscription, and used it again to rip off my credit card). So he suggested that I at least give him my phone number to see if there was a recording on file of my calling to cancel sometime in the past.

OK, I gave it to him, knowing good and well this was just another stalling tactic. But while Alex was away, supposedly using my phone number to scan his records for a recording of my subscription cancellation call, I decided to check my Google email account, which I rarely use, to see if there was anything there.

And sure enough, an email from N&O Subscription dated March 7, 2022 - over two freaking years ago -  saying “We don’t want to see you go, but as you requested we’ve canceled your subscription. Please keep this for your records.”

Over that sentence was “NOTICE OF CANCELLATION” in big white letters against a Duke blue banner. Boy, was I licking my chops when I found that!

As expected, supervisor Alex came back to inform me that unfortunately the search of his records per my phone number yielded nothing, and just as he was about to hit me with his “Here’s $270.00 sir, take it or leave it” b.s., BAM, I hit him with the cancellation email from the March 7, 2022 email I found.

I can’t tell you how dejected Alex suddenly sounded after I read it to him. He instructed me to forward the two-year old email to him, gave me the email address to send it to, and assured me that he would take it from there.

So I did, as I felt my dearly departed mother smiling on me from above.

As soon as I did, and Alex, who never left the line, acknowledged receiving it, he sent back a confirming email promising to put my $514.79 back on my credit card within 7 to 10 business days.

To be clear, it was a form email, where only the first line had to be filled in.

Oh, and before we ended the call, I asked Alex if he was in Raleigh?

No, Colombia, South America, he replied.

Damn, the N&O in North Carolina, outsources its subscription service to Colombia, South America? Fancy that!

So I’m waiting, folks, and I’ll let you know when I get my full refund.

But what concerns me about all of this is that these folks were all too ready to either keep my $514.79, or at the very least half of it, knowing good and well that I most likely, like most people, would not have readily retained concrete proof of when I cancelled my subscription (luckily I did).

How many people do they do this too, and how often?

And they never told me what the $514.79 was for. Was it for past subscriber service they never collected on? Was it for current service I was never charged for? They never justified the $514.79. All they said was because I couldn’t prove that I ever called in to cancel my subscription, they were "rightfully" going to put on their bandit’s mask and make off with my money. Hey, suppose I just cancelled by email? Apparently your records didn't show that either. It's all too slick by half!

        No letter or email of warning, no nothing before they just took my money! I consider that a scam, folks!

There was absolutely NO reason for the N&O to arbitrarily choose me, a former subscriber out of many I'm sure, to use my credit card information with which to erroneously charge me  $514.79, unless there’s an angle or hustle to it.

The hustle being that we are going to first kidnap your money, then keep half of it solely because you can’t prove when you cancelled your service with us. They keep at least half the money they’ve already taken, and you get nothing for it! I consider THAT a cold-blooded scam of the $514.79 kind!

They already know that you’re going to call them to complain, and they’re ready with the flim-flam when you do. This was not a mistake, except one - messing with my mother’s son.

And to think that The News and Observer - whose parent company is the highly respected McClatchy Newspaper chain - allows this kind of racket to happen in their name, especially with a South American outsource.

Folks, we’re in an age where because of computers, the financial flim-flam can happen at anytime, TO anyone. And these folks think they have an absolute right to do whatever it takes, to get your money, and make you beg for it back.

Well, I’m NOT in that business, and nor should you be either. 

When you cancel a service, any service, make sure you insist on a written record of the transaction, and make sure you hold onto to that record for at least two to five years (create a file on your desktop). Make sure your record of said transaction reflects not only the company or service, day, date and amount if any, but the name of who you dealt with if you can get it (make sure you ask).

And as I learned, one of the best repositories for such records (though certainly not the only one) is your email. That will automatically give you day, date, and even time, in addition to who sent the email, and what the transaction was about.

        By the way, for several days thereafter, even on a Sunday, a number of  "agents" from the N&O here locally called me, saying they had a "special discount offer" for me to resubscribe. I told them point blank, "I have no interest in doing business with the N&O as long as you have $514.79 of my money, and you have until Oct. 4th to return it. I'm counting the days. Other than that, we have no business with each other!" The nerve and gall of these people!

         Call me rude, but I was NOT going to allow myself to get into a worthless conversation with these folks. My money is NOT their money, and the sooner they realize that, the better!

DON’T LET THESE CROOKS STEAL YOUR MONEY JUST BECAUSE IT CONVENIENTLY RESIDES IN YOUR WALLET!!! Realize what happened to me, can easily happen to you, and be proactive, if possible.

And trust me, if I don’t get my $514.79 refunded to my credit card within the time promised, I’m going to the next level with this. This is not the way a major North Carolina newspaper, or publisher in Raleigh, should be conducting business! And if anyone there sees this commentary, FIX THIS, even if you have to travel all the way to Colombia, South America to do it!

I am NOT the person to pull this mess on, and none of my readers should be either!

-30-

THE CASH STUFF FOR SEPT. 23rd, 2024

                                                         LT. GOV. MARK ROBINSON

ROBINSON REMAINS IN

GOVERNOR’S RACE

AMID TURMOIL

By Cash Michaels

An analysis

When Republican Lt. Governor and gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson spoke to supporters last Saturday at Fayetteville Motor Speedway, he was among friends.

Any concerns he had of being treated disrespectfully by the people there after a troubling blockbuster CNN report two days earlier revealed evidence alleging that Robinson, prior to entering politics in 2020, frequented a pornography website where he called himself a “black Nazi,” expressed admiration for German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and boasted of positive thoughts about slavery and reinstating it, among other more salacious musings, were gone.

Instead, the crowd gathered there treated Robinson, 56, and his wife, Yolanda, warmly, especially during the meet-and-greet with the embattled candidate.

When asked by various media outlets what they thought of the explosive allegations about the Greensboro native - allegations that he has strongly denied - many said they didn’t believe the CNN reporting, and will continue to support Robinson in his bid for governor in November.

"Everybody makes mistakes,” one diehard Robinson supporter said. ‘You live and you learn, and nobody truly knows a person’s background and really knows the truth about things.”

        The state NAACP doesn't agree. It has called on the black conservative culture warrior to step down from the race, as have some Republican colleagues.

For his part, Robinson is pointing his finger at who he believes is the source of his problems.

After alleging that his Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Josh Stein, is responsible for leaking the story to CNN shortly after it broke, Robinson went on to charge that like another prominent black Republican, conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, he is the victim of a “high-tech lynching.”

Robinson has vowed to stay in the race.

Stein’s campaign denies Robinson’s charge, and according to several political observers, there’s strong reason to believe him.

First of all, by state law, Robinson had until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19th to withdraw his gubernatorial candidacy, and he refused to do it, even though various published reports had several top Republican leaders not only calling for him to leave so that the NCGOP could legally replace him, but other Republicans went to him as well, asking directly, only to be rebuffed.

Democrats actually want Robinson to stay in the race, as he’s doing, because they believe he will be a drag on the Republican ticket, hurting both former Pres. Donald Trump’s chances to win the state for a third time in his presidential campaign, and down ballot races for other key state government positions.

The Harris-Walz Democratic presidential campaign has already produced commercials tying Trump - who enthusiastically endorsed Robinson several months ago - to the controversial black conservative.

Replacing him with a Republican seen as more feasible, and legislatively experienced,  with just over two months to go before Election Day, was seen as a more practical move to help the party save face, sources say.

Secondly, according to published reports, Republicans had been itching to get rid of Robinson anyway since he was plucked from obscurity in 2018 to run for lt. governor. But because of his race, and meteoric rise in popularity within the party, party leaders backed off, even though they already had information about alleged questionable behavior and other problems that they could have exploited against him, but didn’t.

Robinson’s controversial social media posts bashing women, Jews, Muslims, Blacks and LGBTQ+ people were also common knowledge in GOP circles, but the thinking was those conservative musings would further help distinguish him as a culture warrior with North Carolina’s hard-right base.

“Many of us considered [attacking Robinson] and had seen a lot of the [opposition research] that we believed would hurt him in a general [election],”  State Sen. Scott Stone, one of Robinson’s eight GOP 2020 primary opponents, told WRAL-TV recently. “But with nine in the race, if one person goes after him, it only helps the others.”

Reports are that even though Trump ignored Robinson and his troubling allegations last weekend during his campaign visit to Wilmington, he’s not turning his back on the man he once told a crowd was “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

Why? Because Robinson’s supporters are as devout as Trump’s MAGA following. Indeed, many of them are one in the same. Trump reportedly does not want to anger what essentially is his base.

However, that same loyalty to Robinson apparently didn’t extend to the candidate’s campaign staff, many of whom, including the campaign manager and chief fundraiser, quit Robinson’s campaign late Sunday.

        On Monday, Robinson said he was putting together a team to go after CNN, which includes not only a new campaign manager, but even legal counsel.

With several weeks to go in the campaign, funding drying up and an unceasing amount of negative news reports to overcome, Robinson’s toxic brand now may be too much.

At press time, Robinson was still at least 14 points down behind Stein in at least three recent polls. By staying in the race at this juncture, Mark Robinson is betting that his supporters are just as loyal as Donald Trump’s and will see him through to improbable victory in November.

At the very least, he’s hoping that a stronger than expected finish at this juncture carves out a future in conservative politics for the fiery culture warrior. Otherwise, where else does he go?

-30-

SAU’s PROBLEMS ARE FAR

FROM OVER, DESPITE RENEWED

ACCREDITATION, LOAN

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

It was the story of the summer.

Will St. Augustine’s University (SAU) in Raleigh, survive to see another academic school year amid an avalanche of lawsuits from former employees, millions owed to the government and creditors, lost accreditation, and negative press?

Brian Boulware, chairman of  SAU’s embattled Board of Trustees, certainly was feeling the growing pressure with the school’s future on the line. One of those lawsuits filed against the school, still pending, was from several alumni, among others, including two former members of the trustee board, alleging SAU “…now teeters on the edge of chaos, brought to its knees by the utter neglect of its board of trustees and especially its most recent chairmen, defendants Brian Boulware and [former SAU Board Chairman] James Perry."

Filed May 31st, the 204-page suit sought to have the SAU trustee board removed for alleged fiscal malfeasance.

On June 17th, Boulware, who was accused in the lawsuit of using SAU as his own “personal piggy bank,” issued a four-page open letter on SAU Trustee Board letterhead, adamantly denying the blistering allegations contained, but interestingly starting out by recounting Boulware’s recollection of a dinner “business meeting with influential Raleigh business leaders” where he alleged he was told “Raleigh doesn’t need two black universities,” meaning St.Augustine’s University and Shaw University (Shaw U). “We need the two to merge.”

Boulware’s open letter further alleged that he was told at this business meeting, “We need them both on SAU’s property because we need downtown land to expand the development footprint.”

Others at that meeting emphatically deny that was ever said or implied, though they admit that the option of merger to help both schools survive was discussed. 

Boulware, in an interview, stands by his claim. He adds that he thought the reason for the last minute dinner business meeting invite to him and then brand new SAU Interim Pres. Marcus Burgess, was to discuss how the Raleigh business community could financially help SAU.

The ensuing controversy, based solely on Chairman Boulware’s alleged written recollection of the facts, caused much subsequent discussion, consternation and charges that he was trying to deflect from the serious charges against him alleged in the lawsuit.

But after months of investigation, interviewing many of the people who were actually at that meeting about what their true intentions were, and what the facts actually are now that the subsequent controversy has subsided, it can be reported one reason given for that business meeting is undeniable.

Whether SAU and Shaw U ever merge or not, in the words of one of those prominent business leaders there, the market share of Black students available has shrunk to the point where both private schools must take drastic action soon, or else one of them may cease to exist in the near future.

“What I said at the [business meeting] is that [number] one, we have an immediate St. Aug problem, and two, Shaw is in the midst of cutting budgets, and what Shaw and St. Aug need to deal with is a change in the marketplace,” Jim Goodmon, chairman of Capitol Broadcasting Co., who also invited the chairman and president of Shaw U to that business meeting last February, said in an exclusive interview.

“[The situation for] small, private colleges is tough everywhere,” Goodmon, owner of Raleigh’s WRAL-TV, among other television and radio stations across the state added,”… but this is particularly difficult because neither Shaw nor St. Aug have [large enough] endowments or funds to supplement tuitions, and don’t have enough students …they don’t have [enough] tuitions to run the place.”

“That, to me, is a business fact,” Goodmon insisted.

One harbinger of Mr. Goodmon’s “business fact” that came in September - two months after his interview - was SAU’s startling student enrollment for this academic year 2024-25.

According to multiple published reports, just 200 students enrolled.

That’s dramatically down from 2002-03’s 1,552 students, 2012-13’s 1,142 students and 2022-2023’s 1,108 students.

Almost one eighth the student enrollment of over 20 years ago. The serious implications of this are many, beyond the reality that SAU cannot fiscally operate at this low level of enrollment for long.

What also makes this dramatic decline in student enrollment at SAU so striking now is that because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 landmark affirmation action ruling removing race as an unconstitutional factor in college admissions for students of color, this academic year there are actually more African-American students applying to HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) who can’t enroll in predominately white institutions.

At UNC at Chapel Hill, for example, “The percentage of first-year and transfer students identifying as white or Asian increased this year from 88.5 percent to 89.6 percent, compared to the fall 2023 report,” according to NC Newsline. “Meanwhile, the number of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students declined from 22.9 percent to 19 percent. (“The numbers add up to more than 100% because some students identify as more than one race or ethnicity,” NC Newsline added).”

Experts are quick to suggest it’s too early to definitively proclaim that the High Court decision is primarily responsible for an uptick in Black students applying to HBCUs, but the fact remains, most of North Carolina’s HBCUs except one, have experienced significant growth this academic year.

The one that hasn’t… is St. Augustine’s University.

While serious questions about its accreditation status may have been responsible for much of the significant decrease in SAU’s student enrollment this academic year (its accreditation has since been restored), there is another critical factor that affects both SAU and Shaw U that cannot be denied - NC Promise, the state-sponsored tuition program instituted by the North Carolina General Assembly several years ago to increase enrollment at several institutions in the 16-campus UNC System.

For the record, a student’s enrollment tuition helps to pay a school’s operating costs and overhead - like salaries and benefits, campus upkeep and maintenance, administration, etc.

The amount a particular student pays is traditionally supplemented by financial aid, grants, and other qualifying tuition assistance. Thus, the stated tuition rate is rarely what the student actually pays to enroll.

NC Promise drastically reduces the upfront costs for students enrolled in one of its UNC System schools.

Based on the fact that NC Promise schools historically serve low-income student populations of color, Fayetteville State University, Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), Western Carolina University and UNC at Pembroke enroll in-state students at just $1,000 tuition per academic year (or $500.00 per semester) and $5,000 tuition per academic year for out-of-state students).

At ECSU, which saw an increase of nearly 500-student applications last February over the previous year, the school is allowed by the UNC System to have an equal number of in-state and out-of state students enrolled, allowing it to recruit more prospective students from neighboring states.

“We’re going to be more affordable to them, so that’s definitely a draw,” ECSU Admissions Director Arlinda Halfacre told The News & Observer earlier this year.

Compared to what a small, private institution like SAU charges a student to enroll - a reported $13,606.02 per semester for tuition, fees, room and board- the NC Promise school program provides a low-cost alternative, even with various grants and financial aid packages applied, that’s hard to compete with.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” admitted a Shaw University administrator who asked that their name not be used for this report, when asked to confirm how NC Promise has impacted small private institutions - both white and black -  like Shaw U and SAU.

“I dare say it not only impacts the North Carolina private schools, but has impacted all North Carolina HBCUs. It’s a very good program for the schools that are able to participate in NC Promise, very good,” the unnamed administrator added.

Still this semester, Shaw U was able to welcome a 400-student enrollment increase, the largest freshman class post the Covid-19 pandemic, a 36% increase from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024 in new student enrollment .

In Fall 2022-23, Shaw U had a 924 student undergraduate enrollment, and cost a reported $16,480 per semester (tuition, fees, room and board) to enroll.

Even with the 400-student increase over 2022-2023, Shaw U’s numbers pale to Fayetteville State University’s record-breaking 7,107 for the 2024-25 academic year, and ECSU’s 2,261 students for the same period.

Still, at least Shaw U’s leadership is seen as making some controversial, if not critical decisions, and investments, in the school’s future. The question is whether they are the right decisions and investments, and at what costs to the school and its surrounding community.

As for SAU, it was able to secure a $30 million line of credit from a Durham venture capital group using some of its 105-acre property as collateral; borrow $7 million from that to satisfy some of its immediate debts (including back pay for employees), and have its accreditation reinstated, for now, by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to allow it to open for the fall semester.

But SAU’s problems are far from over. What happens going forward, especially if students are afraid to enroll in an historically Black institution that's fighting mightily to survive?

With this lopsided reality, SAU and Shaw U are faced with making tough decisions about their futures.

Merger, some observers say, is an option they may not like, but can’t ignore.

Editor’s note -SAU Interim Pres. Marcus Burgess was asked for comment for this report, but did not respond by press time.

In Part 2, why merger must be considered for SAU to survive.

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