Editor’s note: The following editorial appeared recently in the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.

Next fall students attending North Carolina’s state universities will pay between 9 percent and 20 percent more for their education, depending on the campus. Those tuition increases will cost families about $40 million more each year – and put $40 million more in the universities’ kitties.

At the same time, well-heeled special interest groups like the Rams Club in Chapel Hill and Wolfpack Club in Raleigh will get a break on tuition. They’ll pay in-state rates for out-of-state athletes on full scholarships they provide.

If you think that’s a wacky priority, you’re right. Senate leaders snuck it into the budget last year with limited debate. If you object, contact your representative in the General Assembly and ask for a do-over when the session starts in May.

Next fall, citizens in the state will pay about $14,000 for full scholarship students from out of state at UNC Chapel Hill and about $12,000 for each one at N.C. State. That’s thanks to a provision inserted into last year’s 364-page budget bill approved by the General Assembly. It means the sponsors of athletic and academic scholarships for out-of-state students will save a pile of money. But it sticks taxpayers with the bill.

That’s wrong on so many levels it’s not even funny.

It lets the state’s largest campuses get around an 18 percent cap on the number of out-of-state students. It saddles taxpayers with subsidizing athletic booster clubs and their flush-with-cash contributors, along with multimillion-dollar foundations. It also upends any effort to have a fair, workable tuition policy – which is an urgent need for the UNC system.

This was a measure the UNC system did not seek. In fact, the Board of Governors opposed it, as well it should. But powerful politicians like Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight and Sen. Tony Rand muscled it into law to serve special interests. That should not stand.

The price of college has increased as much as 70 percent at some of North Carolina’s campuses in the past decade. Rising tuition has pushed that inflation, and that trend must end. Ordinary families should not be priced out of an education at universities they pay to operate.

That’s why the UNC administration’s efforts to fashion firm, fair guidelines for tuition increases – and a sensible tuition policy – are so important. UNC President Erskine Bowles should lobby for lawmakers to repeal the break allowed to booster clubs and scholarship foundations. You can help him by contacting your own representative.

One other thing: This little perk will cost the universities an estimated $32 million a year when fully implemented – roughly the same amount as the new round of tuition increases. Our money in, their money out. That’s just not right.