<p>As an applicant to William and Mary, I have mixed reactions to the article. I am from out of state and I do not qualify for financial aid, just so you know where I am coming from. If the state of Virginia is going to continue to cut funding to its universities and colleges, can you really blame them for accepting more out of state applicants to make up for the loss? You need to remember that colleges are not only an educational service but also a business; they need the money. So, only increasing the number of students that they accept and increasing enrollment will make up for the loss of funds while also increasing their goal of more Virginians with degrees. I find two problems with increasing the enrollment 1) colleges may not have room for the expansion and will have to pay to possibly build more facilities to accomidate the forced expansion, so it will be interesting to see if they can turn a bigger profit than they currently have if they have to be spending money to make money and 2) accepting more student and enrolling more could dillute the quality of the students at each respective university. I know this is not the best example but say for instance William and Mary, with their current size accepts everyone with a 30 and higher ACT score and no one below 30s… so now if you must increase enrollment, the next year they may accept everyone with 29 ACT score and higher, you have now accepted student with lower stats in order to fill your new quota. I know the example is poor but i think on a larger scale it is realistic. Colleges are currently only accepting the best students they want at their school, increasing enrollment will be accepting students they would not normally accept, dilluting talent and what not.</p>
<p>As an advocate for better education for Americans, the push to increase the amount of Virginians with a degree is an excellent idea. But, it wont come without its problems to those colleges and universities, such as the ones i noted above.</p>
<p>Let me know what you think, agree or disagree? It would be nice to begin a nice discussion. Thanks.</p>