The North Carolina NAACP said that a bill in the state Senate forced five public colleges and universities to cut tuition. They said, it is just an attempt to put historically black schools out of business.

873 Senate Bill would drop tuition fee to $500 starting in 2018 at Western Carolina, UNC Pembroke, Winston-Salem State, Elizabeth City State and Fayetteville State. The state will spend $70 million to help the universities cover the revenue loss, lawmakers added.

Supporters said, the bill would attract more students to colleges who are struggling with enrollment and finances, but critics argue lead to the ultimate demise of historically black schools like Winston-Salem State, Elizabeth City State, and Fayetteville State.

"This bill attacks people of color directly. The goal is clear to disperse these centers of cultural, intellectual, political power and disrupt the mission of HBCUs by bankrupting them," said North Carolina NAACP President Reverend William Barber.

College sophomore Delaney Vandergrift at North Carolina A&T State University worried about the future of the historically black college and the university could be in danger, if a new Senate proposal cutting tuition gets approval.

"In high school I dealt with a lot of micro-aggressions and like, anti-black racism, and I knew that I wouldn't find that at an HBCU," Vandergrift said.

The bill would also guarantee the incoming of the UNC students to set tuition and establish merit scholarships at N.C. A&T and N.C. Central. For the students at 11 other universities, the tuition they pay freshman year would remain the same for at least eight semesters.

Speaking on the issue, Fayetteville State University Chancellor James Anderson said, “while the bill has the good intention of lowering the cost of higher education, and makes up for the revenue loss, there is no guarantee that future lawmakers would continue to provide state appropriations to offset the lost revenue.”

"Although, we know it not to be true, the reduction of tuition could create a perception that the quality of education provided by FSU is inferior to that of other institutions. Creating such a perception may undermine our tremendous progress of the past eight years. Should SB 873 become law, we will not allow it to jeopardize the FSU brand and will continue our efforts to ensure that the FSU brand remains strong," said Anderson.

- Mayuka.