Universities Targeting Out-of-State Admissions for Tuition Fees

Colorado Mesa University was typical of most public institutions in the fall of 2007, with out-of-state students making up a small number, about 5 percent, of the overall student body. But when the economic downturn hit in the fall of 2008, and state support for higher education began dwindling, Colorado Mesa President Tim Foster knew it was time to shake up the status quo. He decided to aggressively recruit out-of-state students, who pay 50 percent to 60 percent more than do Colorado residents. “Obviously the purchasing power of in-state students from a budgetary perspective was not very good,” Foster says.

The school embedded a recruiter in California and sent additional admissions representatives to such key Western feeder states as Wyoming and Utah. The school even targeted Hawaii.

The work has paid off: This fall, out-of-state students make up 12 percent of Colorado Mesa University’s overall student body, bringing in about $3 million to $5 million in additional revenue annually. Foster’s goal is to see nonresident enrollment reach 25 percent in five years. “If we can continue to grow—but grow out-of-state faster—that will work well for us,” he says.

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The school had no problem finding out-of-state students for those seats: Of 25,000 applications for this year’s freshman class, 14,100 came from out of state. This fall, nonresidents will make up 33 percent of the freshman class, up from 25 percent three years ago, Ballinger says. Making the decision to admit more students from outside Washington’s borders wasn’t easy. “University of Washington, relatively speaking for a public flagship institution, is public to the bone,” he says. “The thought that we would be in a place where, to maintain quality and access, we had to reduce resident enrollment and increase nonresident enrollment was almost abhorrent.”

Until now, the state has set tuition rates for UW. Next fall the school will be able to set its own rates for the first time, and Ballinger hopes this will allow UW to restore the 150 freshman slots for residents that were removed this year.

...at the expense of in-State students.