Former UNC President William Friday is cheering on legislators who want to end the tuition break for out-of-state athletes in the UNC system.

At a time when hundreds of thousands of state citizens are living in poverty and many young people can't afford to go to college, the state should not be subsidizing out-of-state scholarship recipients, Friday said today.

"I think those resources should be applied to North Carolina," he said.

The law now allows any out-of-state recipient of a full-time scholarship at a UNC campus to considered an in-state student. The state pays the differential in the tuition rates. The taxpayer cost is about $10 million and growing.

The majority of the money goes to athletes, who generally were less qualified academically than many other applicants, Friday pointed out. Some also goes to recipients of academic scholarships.

Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, and Rep. George Cleveland, a Jacksonville Republican, filed a bill that would limit the tuition exemption to academic scholars only. It would end the state subsidy for athletes — and the college booster clubs' finances would take the hit.