N.C. Gen. Stat. § 116-144: Higher tuition to be charged nonresidents.

Unless provided otherwise by law, the Board of Governors shall fix the tuition and required fees charged nonresidents of North Carolina who attend the institutions enumerated in G.S. 116-4 at rates higher than the rates charged residents of North Carolina and comparable to the rates charged nonresident students by comparable public institutions nationwide, except that a person who serves as a graduate teaching assistant or graduate research assistant or in a similar instructional or research assignment and is at the same time enrolled as a graduate student in the same institution may, in the discretion of the Board of Governors, be charged a lower rate fixed by the Board, provided the rate is not lower than the North Carolina resident rate. (1933, c. 320, s. 3; 1983, c. 761, s. 112; 2016-94, s. 11.4(c2).)