AS A STUDENT, life at the University can sometimes feel like living in a bubble. Unfortunately, that bubble is not strong enough to shield our institution from the crisis on Wall Street. Upon seeing President John T. Casteen, III’s e-mail about the impact of state budget cuts — which reports that “the overall reduction for the University of Virginia is $10.6 million, which equates to 7 percent of our General Funds” — one cannot help but wonder how this will affect one’s work and lifestyle at the University. Shortly after hearing this, I believed the University could make up this difference very easily: Because it would be receiving less support from the State, the institution could justify enrolling more out-of-state students who pay higher tuition than Virginians. However, the consequences of this policy — determined by the nation’s current economic climate and higher education trends — would compromise the University’s qualities that make it so attractive to out-of-state applicants in the first place.
There would be advantages to accepting more out-of-state students: The University would gain an extra $20,300 for each entering out-of-state student that takes the place of an in-state student, the constant pull for geographic diversity would be strengthened, and more talented students could be admitted. Dean of Admissions John Blackburn acknowledges that “the profile of the class would be stronger if we could select more out-of-staters.” Out of state students bring valuable skills and experience to the school, and we need to find what the University Record Admission Requirements call the “balance [between] the strength of a national student body [and] the importance of a university education for Virginia’s best students.”
Yet despite its advantages, tipping the scale more in favor of out-of-staters would cause more problems than it would solve. Blackburn notes that “the basis for the 67/33 ratio of Virginians to out-of-state students is the Restructuring Plan [with the State of Virginia]” and “we are expected to maintain that ratio.” Although changing admissions policies would be a response to the State’s funding cuts, Virginia’s government could possibly allocate even less to the University were it to violate the Plan. In addition, the change would send a cold message to the school’s home state and majority of its population; Blackburn remarks that “politically, it would be a bad move.”
Demand for out-of-state spots at the University has always been high, but recent financial developments around the country suggest that we cannot take this for granted. An October 17th article in The Wall Street Journal points out that “state budget deficits are forcing already cash-strapped public universities to increase tuition” and “more families are opting for state institutions as college tuition has soared and the credit crisis has made it harder to get student loans.” According to the Office of Institutional Assessment’s Data Catalog, the percentage of in-state applicants (63.0) accepting an offer of admission is significantly higher than that for out-of-staters (32.9), and the aforementioned trends predict an even lower yield rate among prospective students not native to the Old Dominion. The University would be forced to open its doors to more out-of-state students in order to compensate for the lower yield, decreasing its selectivity rating that is so important to some.
The University should instead try to take advantage of the situation by strengthening the profile of its in-state class. Graduating high school students will be forced to take a longer look at a school’s price tag, and the institution could stress this to the state’s academic elite in order to lure them away from higher ranked private schools. Virginia provides a high number of government jobs that require employees to transfer frequently, and an applicant that has recently moved from Virginia to another state most likely will not have a unique geographical perspective to bring to the University community. Because it takes twelve months of living in Virginia, along with other qualifications, to establish domicile according to the Office of Admission’s Web site, former residents that have moved away from Virginia within the last few years could be given in-state status for admissions purposes by that same logic. The domicile policy already has an exception for military families; why not expand this to similar students whose families have been paying taxes and supporting the state? This would allow more true out-of-state students to be accepted, increasing both the talent of the incoming class and the University’s tuition revenues.
What makes the University special is its ability to serve — both the people of Virginia and the nation at large — while still providing an Ivy League quality education. The institution’s tradition, including its history as a state school, may very well be what draws in so many out-of-state applicants. The University literally cannot afford to forget its identity as a public institution.
Mitch Ross’s column appears Thursday in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at m.ross@cavalierdaily.com.
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