High school seniors are deciding which college to attend in the fall, and high school juniors are starting their college seeking and touring process. These students should be aware that recruiters are trying every tactic to get out-of-state students.
Colleges around the country have had their budgets cut and some officials believe the best way to get money back into the school’s account is to appeal to more non-residents for their out-of-state tuition and fees, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Whatever the UA needs to do to appeal to those with more money, by all means proceed. Arizona schools need to recover from budget cuts and it’s up to the future students’ dedication to seek loans and scholarships, understand their families’ budgets and decide how much going out of state for school is worth.
Many out-of-state students made a decision that, regardless of the tuition, they want to attend a specific school.
“For me, it’s not that big of a deal, because I have some student loans, so I’m not the one paying — but my parents would be upset,” said Laura Kruk, an undeclared freshman from Eugene, Ore., about the proposed increase in out of state tuition.
Current UA students wouldn’t be affected by this new recruiting approach. A revised UA proposal made last month shows that there would be no increase for continuing undergraduate students or incoming in-state students.
“I am happy that tuition won’t increase for me, but I also feel like it’s unfair to those new students having to pay more,” said Cierra Sanderson, a psychology freshman from Fresno, Calif.
On the other hand, Arizona State University will not increase tuition for in-state undergraduate students but for all non-resident students either continuing or enrolling in fall 2012, there will be a $589 to $654 tuition increase.
Almost one third of UA students are from out of state. California is the biggest supplier of students to the UA, but the number of California freshmen has decreased from 1,075 in 2008 to 987 in 2010, according a U.S. Department of Education survey. Tuition is probably one of many reasons for the decrease, but the benefits outweigh the risk. Students will still come to the UA from other states regardless of the cost.
“Money wasn’t too big of a factor because my parents wanted me to get an education regardless of cost and Arizona was a nice change of scenery and a breath of fresh air,” Sanderson said.
However, ASU’s numbers showed an opposite trend from the UA. ASU has a goal to appeal to non-residents. The number of ASU students who enrolled from California increased from 800 in 2008 to 1,134 in 2010, according to the U.S Department of Education survey.
Clearly the UA needs to take a page out of ASU’s book and start reaping the benefits of out-of-state funds.
— Ashley T. Powell is a journalism sophomore. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions .
The original column falsely reported an increase in tuition for incoming in-state students. The error has been fixed.
