In the wake of incoming N.C. State University scholarship recipients wrapping up their high school senior years, the university chancellor, Randy Woodson, visited Lenoir County.
He spoke at the Rotary Club of Kinston Thursday, where members invited back former Rotary Students of the Week and recognized three N.C. State scholarship winners.
Woodson said it’s vital hemake stopovers at North Carolina counties as a leader of the state’s largest university. While juggling more than 34,000 enrolled students, among other headship duties, the University of Arkansas graduate made his way down for a return trip to Lenoir County.
He spoke with The Free Press Thursday afternoon.
The Free Press: With skyrocketing tuition costs, how have you accomplished keeping N.C. State the third-best valued school in the United States?
Randy Woodson: Well, the value proposition is both cost and the benefit of the education. The good news is our graduates get great jobs, so they have a great return on the investment. We’ve been able to keep tuition low, or as low as possible, because we’ve been working real hard to be more efficient. We’ve reduced a lot of administrative cost and plowed that money back into education. That’s allowed us to work hard to keep tuition as low as we can.
TFP: In light of students receiving scholarships to attend N.C. State, do you think a college education is worth the debt nowadays?
RW: Of course I do, I’m a university president. I think a good college education is always worth the investment. The average indebtedness of students graduating from N.C. Sate is $15,000. That’s lower than most cars cost, and I can’t think of much else or another investment that would yield as much value as that. I mean, the data on college-educated folks in the state of North Carolina … have the lowest unemployment rate among all citizens, and they have the highest earning potential. Yes, a college education is a critical thing for students to think about.
TFP: After spending a quarter century at Purdue University, what brought you to Raleigh?
RW: N.C. State is an outstanding university. It’s a public land-grant university, if you know what that means. It’s a university that tends to focus on agriculture and engineering and applied research. It was just too tempting for me not to come. Plus, it’s in North Carolina, which is a great state.
TFP: In the three years you’ve been at N.C. State, what’s been your most proud accomplishment?
RW: I’d say managing the university through the most difficult budget time we’ve had since the Great Depression.
TFP: What are your thoughts on the expansion of the ACC?
RW: First of all, I’m really pleased that we’ve largely kept the conference together. Yeah, we’ve lost Maryland, but we’ve added some outstanding universities that have similar cultures academically and athletically. We now have an agreement that keeps us in place where we won’t lose other members, and I think the ACC will prove to be one of the toughest conferences in America — in football and in basketball.
TFP: What do you plan to take away from today’s visit to Lenoir County?
RW: N.C. State is present in every county in the state. It’s important for me as a leader of the university to get out in the state as much as I can. I always take back something new.
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or at Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.