(CULLOWHEE) -- State budget cuts are having a negative impact on colleges and universities across North Carolina. At Western Carolina University, chancellor David Belcher says it has forced his school to increase class sizes and reduce choices for students.

Belcher says that's tough on a student population with a high percentage of kids who are first in their families to ever attend college. He says those students require a little more help to adjust to college life.

Belcher adds that with reduced class choices and less money for student aid, some kids will be forced to go to college elsewhere or not go at all. He calls that a brain drain for the region. Belcher says Western is having to pick and choose which curricula it will nurture in the tough times in order to best serve its students and the region.