On average, students at the "flagship" universities of state college systems have a higher family income than their counterparts at private colleges and universities, according to a recent Washington Post report. The University of North Carolina (UNC) is no exception, notes the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy.

• The families of undergraduates attending selective public colleges earned a median annual income of $51,231 compared to $46,863 at private colleges for the 1995-96 school year, according to the Washington Post report.

• Median family income is approximately $75,000 at the UNC-Chapel Hill, $75,000 at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, $80,000 at the University of Texas, and $94,000 for last year's graduating class at the University of Virginia.

• And more than 47 percent of UNC-Chapel Hill freshman have family incomes of $75,000 or more, according to a 1998 survey of UNC freshmen conducted by the UNC Office of General Administration.

The nationwide income medians come from a new analysis of federal figures by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. The study used U.S. Education Department data that are four years old, but experts believe the pattern continues today. The results agree with separate studies that four states -- Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, and California -- conducted in the early 1990s.

"Unlike private colleges, state universities essentially subsidize student costs regardless of income by offering low tuition for in-state students," the NAICU report contended.

Source: "UNC, Public College Students Post High Family Income," Clarion Call, December 2, 1999, Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, P.O. Box 14502, Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709, (919) 789-8694.

For Pope Center text http://www.popecenter.org/clarion_call/article.html?id=719