I think lvvcsf in post 36 got this right… for high stats kids the net cost of going OOS may be equal to in-state and in many cases, including our own, less.
When we started college shopping, our local high school had a seminar where it was mentioned that IL and NJ send more kids out of state than any other.
Although our youngest applied to and was admitted to UIUC’s most competitive engineering program, the fact that other schools offered so much merit $$ made many of them cheaper to us than our in-state flagship.
Illinois is so broke it plays that game too, trying to fill the class with full-pay internationals and offering merit to strong OOS kids with high stats that will net them more revenue than our own 2400 SAT child who was offered no merit.
Furthermore, here in the midwest, although we do send a lot of kids to elite private schools, the Big 10 schools are very popular as several offer great educations and strong alumni networks in Chicago. I think Michigan and Indiana at minimum equal Illinois’ reputation and alumni network in the Chicago area. Purdue, Wisconsin, and Iowa are also very strong. In private schools, Northwestern and UChicago are local and Notre Dame trumps them both for alumni network in Chicago. With that kind of competition, University of Illinois does not stand out.
All states surrounding Illinois know this and cherry-pick the best Illinois kids. I imagine NJ is the same.
It’s a crazy system when state schools prefer OOS kids to their own.
When the state funding for the state university can only provide the in-state subsidy for N students, but the state university has capacity for N + M students, it obviously has incentive to enroll M students at unsubsidized prices.
However, it is likely that many out-of-state students at UVA are paying higher net prices than the in-state list price, and higher than the price needed for the school to not need to subsidize them.
According to http://sfs.virginia.edu/cost/14-15 , tuition at UVA is $10,484 in-state, $38,988 out-of-state, and total cost of attendance is $27,092 in-state, $56,558 out-of-state. It is entirely possible that the $38,988 out-of-state tuition is higher than needed to cover unsubsidized cost of providing education, so it could be that some out-of-state students receiving financial aid are still paying more than the amount needed for the school to break even on them. Also, any out-of-state student whose net price is greater than $27,092 is paying a higher net price than the in-state list price.
I can understand the rationale for using merit money to attract high achieving OOS students. But I never understood the rationale of using need-based aid to attract more poor OOS students-- what then is the point of having in-state and OOS tuition rates?
I’m not sure it is really about trying to “attract more poor OOS students.” They get plenty of OOS applicants, many more OOS applicants than IS. UVa has plenty of wealthy students and like a lot of schools, wants a diverse student body and probably wants less wealthy students to also have access to the college.
UVA and UNC are both need-blind and meet full need for IS and OOS students alike, so students with EFC less than the in-state cost of attendance ($29k at UVA, $24k at UNC) will have the exact same total cost, whether IS or OOS.
OOS students at UVA/UNC need an EFC that is less than the total cost of attendance in order to receive aid. Total cost of attendance is based on out of state tuition for these students- not in state.
If total COA for OOS is $50,000 and the EFC is $38,000, the student’s aid package will be $12,000.
“why bother” IS vs. OOS rates are very common. You could still have many OOS students that are paying the same or more than an average instate student. The best aid for both IS and OOS would be reserved for the truly needy.
University of Virginia has a student body that is very skewed toward wealth – only 13% of students receive Pell grants (i.e. are from middle or lower income families), among the lowest of “national universities” listed by USNWR.
Why pick an OOS State school? As a parent from New York let me offer this perspective: You may choose an OOS State school when your child is a top student but you don’t qualify for any need-based aid and can’t afford to spend upwards of $50,000 per year for an elite private school. And when your child gets offered large merit aid ($15,000 per year based on national buckeye plus additional smaller scholarship) to attend a highly ranked program (like the Fisher College of Business) at an OOS flagship–like the Ohio State University, which has much lower sticker-price tuition than the elite private schools and has more to offer than the in-state State (SUNY) school options, for just a few thousand more dollars. The “more to offer” includes larger breadth and depth of courses/programs which are all offered at a single flagship, better Facilities-- academic, recreational, residential, better or more opportunities for social life (larger Greek life, college town & city life) and rah rah school spirit stemming from a top Division 1 Sports program, where (even if you are not a big sports fan) you can have fun attending “events” such as college football and basketball games ( and the tailgating and after game parties associated with that).
Some states seem to just have more attractive options than others , at least in the way people think about this from early on. I am from Pennsylvania, Pitt and Penn State seemed like good options but not good enough for some people and I don’t remember people being that crazy about getting in. All of these state schools seem tougher to get into these days. . If you can get into and pay for an elite school, that has always been an option. What surprised me in moving to Virginia over 30 years ago was the love for UVa, W & M, and VT , even back then. And people being willing to pay for private high schools or the best neighborhoods with public schools even then , hoping that would help with admissions.
And I would guess that things in Pennsylvania have changed. The schools there seem even more attractive than ever. There seem to be many more kids crossing state borders these days, looking for opportunities and money. More people seem to be doing more research about options these days.
But why give need-based FA money to the truly needy in another state? I seriously doubt that states can’t find plenty of truly needy and deserving kids within the state. If the poor kid in another state was a superstar, then he/she would qualify for merit money.
We live in IL. We have some decent in-state schools - our flagship is considered a very good school for STEM, actually - but in-state tuition at most of them, even the directionals, is some of the highest in the country. Our cheapest state directional is about the same in cost for in-state tuition as neighboring states’ for their flagship.
My D applied to two OOS state schools, both of those also directionals.
She got a merit scholarship at one, allowing her to pay their in-state tuition rate - which is still cheaper than any state schools here in IL.
The other OOS school was a special discounted rate for IL residents with a 3.0. She’ll pay half their regular OOS tuition - ad again, it will be cheaper than any IL in-state tuition.
(She did also apply to an IL directional, and got merit, making it the cheapest option. But it’s in an area of the state she really doesn’t care for; and half the students there are also from the Chicago area, and she wants to experience a slightly different culture, even if it’s still in a Midwestern state.)
So, for my D, it is about being able to go farther away from home while still having very affordable tuition.
Agree. But UVA is a public school, supported by VA taxpayers. I don’t see what’s in it for VA taxpayers to give need-based FA to OOS kids who don’t make the merit cut, when there are PLENTY of needy VA residents.
