CHAPEL HILL (Sept. 16, 2021) – How often do members of the UNC Board of Governors talk about “no-brainers”?

Well they did this week before approving a policy to guarantee admission to UNC System schools for graduates of the NC School of Science and Mathematics.

The high school in a former hospital in Durham identifies talented students across the state and offers them advanced instruction in science and math – and the arts as well – for free. Because of its advanced instruction, the school is included among the 17 campuses in the UNC System. A second campus is scheduled to open in Morganton next year.

The School of Science and Math is regularly recognized as one of the top high schools in the nation. Some 55% of its graduates already go to UNC System schools. Star alumni include astronaut Christina Koch and musician and MacArthur Foundation ‘Genius Grant’ winner Rhiannon Giddens.

Chancellor Todd Roberts says a policy that once guaranteed grants to cover tuition for NCSSM graduates prompted a 16% increase in enrollment at UNC System campuses by the school’s graduates. Language to restore those grants is in both the House and Senate versions of the state budget for 2021-23.

Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey told a board committee Wednesday that he’s passionate about guaranteeing admission to NCSSM grads. Ramsey said he met a student when he first toured the school who was already working in cancer research at UNC-Chapel Hill as a high-school student. She told him she had been accepted at Harvard, Stanford, Yale and UCLA – but not yet at UNC.

“I believe very strongly that we need to keep the best and brightest in the state of North Carolina and not let them go to other places,” Ramsey said – though he also acknowledged concerns that NCSSM grads would tend to concentrate at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State.

Committee Chair Temple Sloan noted that almost half the school’s 350 graduates a year go to private or out-of-state schools.

“It is the brightest of the bright,” Sloan said. “It’s a travesty that we’re allowing these graduates to go out of the UNC network or go out of state… These are North Carolina students.”

Roberts said guaranteeing admission to NCSSM graduates – 70% of whom go on to earn STEM degrees – dovetails with the UNC System’s goal to produce more graduates with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) degrees. He also noted that about half of NCSSM’s students come from Tier 1 and 2 counties that struggle economically.

That prompted new board member Sonja Nichols to declare: “This is the biggest no-brainer ever…. These are the brainiacs of the brainiacs.”

“We’ve got to make sure we keep the best here,” Nichols said.