Are state schools worth it for OOS applicants?

fragbot
Wed, 07 Oct 2015 02:16:15 +0000

Answering the generic question, it depends on where you live.

I live in Washington that has a well-respected state flagship so I’d say you’d generally be a moron to head to, say, University of Oregon, and pay OOS tuition. If you’re in Washington and can’t get into UW, you’ll probably still be able to get into Western Washington which is a reasonable choice. Likewise, I grew up in Colorado and you have two public choices that are compelling–Boulder and School of Mines.

On the other hand, I have a relative who recently graduated from high school in Nevada. Without the Millennium Scholarship (AKA the “Nevada mustn’t let its average IQ drop any further” fund), I could imagine every top ten percenter at Reno High hoping to attend Davis, Cal or Brigham Young as they and their parents are firmly on the “Anywhere but UNR” plan. Looking at a news article from the Las Vegas Sun, a recent year had a one of Nevada’s fifty National Merit Scholars decide to stay in state. Looking at the other western states, I would guess that Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico and Wyoming in the same boat.

Going through a gedankenexperiment where I pretend to be a senior looking at my states’ public options and finding them wanting:

all the ones I’ve named above.

Louisiana

Maine

the Dakotas

Kentucky

Overall, I’d say I’m in pretty good shape as I have palatable options in 38 of 50 states. This is even more pronounced when you consider that these 11 states only account for 27 of the 435 representative districts. Put another way, 95% of the population has at least one reasonable choice available instate.

Other things to consider:

I’m assuming your in state cost is reasonable. I’d posit this is generally a good assumption but fails in a few states (e.g. Pennsylvania) where OOS might make sense.

I’m ignoring the effect of something like the Western Undergraduate Exchange which significantly reduces OOS costs.

I’m ignoring the effect of merit scholarships. Supporting the Crimson Tide wouldn’t be my thing but I can see its appeal.