Effect of Out-of-State Students on Flagship Universities

[ucbalumnus]

@parentologist

One might just as easily say (ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM) that minimally selective colleges are largely enrolling people who really shouldn’t be in college. It’s not the effect of out-of-state students on flagship universities. It’s the expansion of colleges in order to very expensively warehouse kids who are having an extended, dependent adolescence.

… followed by …

@parentologist

As for low socioeconomic students leaving the flagships for another state college - they’re realizing that they can live at home far more cheaply, and get the education they want at a branch campus, or a 4 yr state college, while saving about 15K/yr in room and board costs.

Since the low SES students mostly are enrolling at less selective non-flagship state universities (often after starting at community college) for financial reasons, are you saying that they are the “people who really shouldn’t be in college”?

If not, then how would you handle the conflicting demands that (a) non-flagship state universities and community colleges must be numerous enough and located to give a large part of the state population commute access to them, (b) they are large enough to offer a reasonably full set of academic programs and majors, and (c) your desire for them to be much more selective than they are, which would leave most of them with far lower enrollment than their capacity as driven by (a) and (b)?

Also, how would you want to handle those who were not ready for college immediately out of high school (based on poor high school records), but have matured enough to be ready some years later as non-traditional students?