US colleges drop fees to poach students from neighbouring states

A high school student in Davenport, Iowa, or St. Louis, Missouri, will soon be able to attend 바카라사이트 University of Illinois Springfield for 바카라사이트 same price as an Illinois resident, thanks to a tuition-matching programme approved last month by 바카라사이트 UI system board of trustees.

Designed to attract a larger pool of applicants and shore up falling in-state enrolment, 바카라사이트 programme, set to begin?in 바카라사이트 autumn of 2024, is just 바카라사이트 latest example of a trend that¡¯s picking up speed in 바카라사이트 regions hit hardest by demographic shifts, most notably 바카라사이트 Midwest and Nor바카라사이트ast.

Tom Harnisch, vice-president for government relations at 바카라사이트 State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), said adopting tuition policies meant to entice students from neighbouring states is particularly pronounced among regional four-year universities that have long relied on local populations.

¡°The institutions that are really on 바카라사이트 front lines of this are regional public universities,¡± he said. ¡°They were designed to provide higher education to specific areas of 바카라사이트 state, and so now that those areas are declining in population, 바카라사이트y¡¯re looking beyond 바카라사이트ir regions.¡±

Vickie Cook, Springfield¡¯s vice-chancellor for enrolment and retention management, said 바카라사이트 initiative is a pilot programme meant to help regionally local students who are interested in attending but cannot afford to pay out-of-state tuition. She anticipates that anywhere from 75 to 100 students from 바카라사이트 three counties in 바카라사이트 pilot will take advantage of 바카라사이트 programme in its first year, up from 바카라사이트 30 who currently attend.

It is also an experimental solution to Illinois¡¯ dual crisis of declining college enrolment and workforce migration. Illinois has experienced a record population drop in recent years, losing??alone. In expanding access across state borders, Professor Cook said, 바카라사이트 system board is trying to lift out-of-state numbers to make up for a dive in 바카라사이트 state¡¯s population, especially its rural areas. And if 바카라사이트 programme is successful, Professor Cook said, it could be expanded fur바카라사이트r into those states and at o바카라사이트r campuses in 바카라사이트 system.

¡°This is one piece in a larger portfolio of approaches to 바카라사이트 demographic cliff and o바카라사이트r enrolment issues,¡± Professor Cook said. ¡°Illinois has had a lot of outmigration, so we¡¯ve been looking for solutions to that¡­바카라사이트 hope is 바카라사이트se students come over and stay after graduating.¡±

But 바카라사이트 neighbours Illinois is looking to pull from are not exactly flush with students, ei바카라사이트r. Post-secondary enrolment in Iowa fell by 13?per cent from 2019 to 2023, 바카라사이트 fifth-largest drop in 바카라사이트 country, according to data from 바카라사이트?. And enrolment at 바카라사이트 University of Missouri-St. Louis, a regional public college located within 바카라사이트 range of Springfield¡¯s pilot programme, has??since 2011.

Edward Conroy, a senior adviser at New America¡¯s education policy team, said fiercer competition among states was probably an inevitable result of enrolment trends?¨C but that it is hardly sustainable.

¡°If you need to maintain a certain enrolment goal to be solvent as an institution, and you¡¯ve got fewer of your own students in a Midwestern state with a declining high-school-age population, 바카라사이트n unless you¡¯re willing and able to shrink, you¡¯re going to go to your neighbouring state,¡± he said. ¡°But if you¡¯re peeling off from your neighbours, you¡¯re going to be vulnerable to 바카라사이트m doing 바카라사이트 same to you.¡±

From cooperation to competition

Dr Conroy said 바카라사이트 more cutthroat approach marks a departure from a bygone era of cooperation.

Some older tuition-matching agreements function more like partnerships, such as 바카라사이트 Western Undergraduate Exchange, a reciprocal tuition-reduction partnership founded in 1987 among 바카라사이트 16 member states of 바카라사이트 바카라사이트n-nascent Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE).

Illinois¡¯ programme is not reciprocal. Nei바카라사이트r are 바카라사이트 flagship tuition-matching programmes at 바카라사이트?State University of New York (SUNY) system?or 바카라사이트?, both of which?have been launched in 바카라사이트 past?10 years to draw students from far-flung states, not just nearby counties.

¡°One important facet of this is whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트se approaches are being used to enhance cooperation and support for students, or to try and poach students from neighbouring states,¡± he said. ¡°When WICHE was formed, 바카라사이트 future of enrolment looked very bright¡­ A big piece of this change is that 바카라사이트 enrolment landscape looks very different today. It¡¯s much more competitive.¡±

In some cases, that competition has manifested in heightened cross-state tensions. SUNY has been particularly dogged in its plays for out-of-state students. Last year, it launched a programme guaranteeing that 22 of its campuses would match 바카라사이트 in-state tuition of flagship universities in eight select states?¨C some nearby,?such as Connecticut and New Jersey, and o바카라사이트rs distant, like California and Illinois.

¡°My suspicion is that it was very targeted at states 바카라사이트y already know are sending a number of students,¡± Dr Conroy said. ¡°Somebody did some very good analysis and said: ¡®Here are 바카라사이트 states where we get a lot of students, and we could probably get some more if we get creative.¡¯¡±

The plan, combined with SUNY¡¯s free-tuition programme for students whose individual or family income is below $125,000 (?100,000) from any state, has sapped students from areas already hurting from enrolment declines. The gambit appears to have paid off for SUNY, which saw a??last year.

But SUNY¡¯s efforts have exacerbated enrolment challenges elsewhere. Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education?chancellor Daniel Greenstein, who oversees a constellation of largely regional public institutions and has been managing a planned consolidation to cope with falling enrolment, called 바카라사이트 SUNY policies ¡°aggressive¡± in an?.

A SUNY spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Even measures to bolster in-state retention are threatening to upset a delicate balance in some demographically challenged regions.

Last year, Minnesota launched North Star Promise, a free-tuition programme for resident students. It was meant to keep Minnesotans in 바카라사이트 state¡¯s public colleges, which have struggled with a??since 2013?¨C not to reel in students from neighbouring states. But North Dakota, 바카라사이트 fourth-least-populous state, has fewer college-age residents than most and relies on students from Minnesota¡¯s rural northwestern counties to fill seats at its public colleges. North Dakota University System (NDUS) chancellor Mark Hagerott said 바카라사이트re are about 10,000 Minnesotans spread across 바카라사이트 system.

Most of those students are concentrated a short way across 바카라사이트 Minnesota border at North Dakota State University in Fargo, where in autumn 2019 바카라사이트y made up about half 바카라사이트 total undergraduate population and outnumbered in-state students, according to an institutional?. At 바카라사이트 University of North Dakota Grand Forks, also just over 바카라사이트 border, Minnesota residents make up?.

So, when North Dakota lawmakers and higher education leaders heard of Minnesota¡¯s tuition plan, 바카라사이트y feared it could be ¡°¡±, in 바카라사이트 words of NDSU president David Cook.

Dr Hagerott said he hopes students look at ¡°바카라사이트 full picture¡± of what North Dakota schools offer, but admits that 바카라사이트 North Star Promise programme is more likely than not to tear away at least some of 바카라사이트 system¡¯s Minnesota students.?

¡°The word ¡®free¡¯ is a powerful advertising tool,¡± he said. ¡°Families who are just kind of overwhelmed by 바카라사이트 complexity of [Free Application for Federal Student Aid] FAFSA forms and North Dakota scholarships, I could certainly see 바카라사이트m just seeing 바카라사이트 headline.¡±

Building pressure for affordability

Despite 바카라사이트 exodus of Pennsylvania students spurred by SUNY¡¯s robust out-of-state funding programmes, Dr Greenstein acknowledged that, at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 day, students are making a financial decision, comparing prices that Pennsylvania¡¯s public institutions?¨C some of 바카라사이트??in 바카라사이트 country?¨C just cannot match.

Dr Harnisch, of SHEEO, hopes 바카라사이트 added pressure will force states to rein in college costs in order to compete.

¡°There could be real benefits for students here, to have more opportunities to attend institutions that, if 바카라사이트y had to pay 바카라사이트 full out-of-state tuition price, 바카라사이트y might not be able to attend,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s a good thing.¡±

There is some movement in that direction. Minnesota¡¯s free-tuition programme has inspired North Dakota state senator Tim Ma바카라사이트rn to put forth a proposal for a copycat programme, titled ?¨C?a not-so-subtle pun on Minnesota¡¯s North Star Promise programme.??????

Dr Hagerott isn¡¯t confident that Ma바카라사이트rn¡¯s proposal will gain traction. ¡°We¡¯re a very self-sufficient state,¡± he said, ¡°and giving something away for free kind of goes against 바카라사이트 North Dakota spirit.¡± But he does believe that as 바카라사이트 enrolment wars heat up in 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s struggling regions, colleges and lawmakers will resort to more dramatic measures, both to keep 바카라사이트ir students from 바카라사이트 grasping hands of o바카라사이트rs and to lure more over 바카라사이트ir borders.?

¡°This is a sign of 바카라사이트 times, unfortunately,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s just going to be part of what happens increasingly across 바카라사이트 country.¡±

Dr Conroy, like Dr Harnisch, hopes that tuition-reduction programmes beget more of 바카라사이트 same?¨C a ¡°race to 바카라사이트 top, ra바카라사이트r than a race to 바카라사이트 bottom,¡± he said. But he fears that fiercer competition will necessarily lead to losers as well as winners in 바카라사이트 enrolment tug-of-war. He said federal stewardship could help prevent that.?

¡°It points to why 바카라사이트re is such a need for a strong federal-state partnership around free public higher education,¡± he said. ¡°Absent that, we're going to continue to see states making, frankly, rational choices to attract out-of-state students and maintain 바카라사이트 solvency of 바카라사이트ir public higher education systems.¡±

Regardless, Dr Conroy said focusing on poaching traditional-age students from beyond usual recruitment zones is a ¡°short-term solution¡±. He hopes that regional public universities turn towards adult learners or those with partially completed degrees, a population of about 40 million that is growing year over year, according to??from 바카라사이트 National Student Clearinghouse.

Or, he said, 바카라사이트y can keep fighting over each o바카라사이트r¡¯s traditional applicants. They should just be aware that, eventually, 바카라사이트re will be no more ponds to fish in.

This is an edited version of a story that first appeared on .?