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NC College To Cover Tuition Cost For Some Next Year

A classroom at Warren Wilson College. Photo courtesy Warren Wilson College

A private college in western North Carolina plans to make higher education more affordable for some state residents.

Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa will offer its NC Free Tuition Plan for incoming, in-state students who are eligible for financial aid.   

Students will have to submit proof of their North Carolina residency and qualify for federal or state need-based grants. They'll receive the remainder of their tuition free through scholarships, grants and Warren Wilson's work-grant requirements. School officials say the plan will help lessen dependence on student loans.

The liberal arts school has 716 undergraduate and graduate students. The average cost of attendance after financial aid is $24,400.

School President Lynn Morton says Warren Wilson reallocated scholarship funding to create the program, which will start next fall.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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