Why public universities, including in Arizona, are recruiting out-of-state students
Download mp3 (10.99 MB)A new analysis of university enrollment finds public research universities in 47 states — including Arizona — have increased the percentage of out-of-state undergrads they accepted between 2002 and 2022.
The data show over those 20 years, the percentage of out-of-state undergraduate students has risen to nearly 30%, up from 18%.
Elaine Povich, an education reporter for the nonprofit Washington, D.C.-based news outlet Stateline, has written about this issue and spoke more about it with The Show.
Interview highlights
MARK BRODIE: Elaine, it seems as though the revenue that comes in from out of state students is pretty significant for a lot of if not most public colleges and universities.
ELAINE POVICH: There's a couple things going on here. One is the number of in-state students that are applying to college or that are eligible for college. The number of high school graduates is going down. So that's just demographics. It's going down, it's expected to decrease probably for another five or six years. So the pool of in-state applicants to state colleges and universities is smaller than it has been.
Given that, the universities have a choice. They can cut themselves back, they can reduce staff, they can reduce offerings or they can look for students somewhere else. And that has become a method whereby state colleges and universities are deliberately advertising themselves out of state, they're recruiting out of state, and they're looking for students in other places that maybe can't get into their own state college or university for that reason or some other. And who have the means, either they have the money or they have loans or they have something, to come to a different state university. This benefits the kids who want to go somewhere else and for sure it benefits the universities that are looking for tuition revenue for the universities that are doing this.
BRODIE: How much of it is about bringing in revenue and how much of it is maybe other factors that, that they want to bring in students from other places.
POVICH: Well, they'll tell you that what they're looking for is a diverse student body with students from other states, other countries, too. There's, they bring in a lot of students from overseas, and that's a good thing. I'm not saying that's not a great thing to do. Have someone experience a college experience with kids from other states and other countries. Great idea.
But the bottom line is the bottom line. And without that revenue, they're not gonna be able to have the kind of offerings that will attract students from other states and other countries. So there's a, there's a twofold effort here, but the revenue that it generates is very important.
BRODIE: Yeah, so you write about two of the three public universities in Arizona, ASU and the University of Arizona, both of whom seemingly are, are doing this to, to some large extent in terms of recruiting students from outside of Arizona to come there and pay the higher tuition.
POVICH: Indeed, I can't remember off the top of my head which school it is, it might be Arizona State, that is very high up in the rankings for foreign students.
BRODIE: Yes, ASU.
POVICH: ASU. And they advertise themselves as we are a destination. We are a destination place for students from all over the world who want to come here and think this is a good place to go to school. So this is an active effort to promote the campus as a great place for students from other places.
BRODIE: How sustainable is this? Like, how, how much longer do you think schools are going to be able to, to keep doing this and try to keep doing this?
POVICH: I think, now I am not a demographer, OK, but if I read the statistics correctly, this is a dip in high school aged population in the country. Demographically, there are fewer high school students today than there were say five years ago. Demographers will tell you that that is expected to rise. So this is kind of a trough, and the schools that are recruiting from out of state will continue to do this up to the point where their in-state students grow enough that they can fulfill their population with as many in-state students as possible.
Look, the schools will tell you that they're, that they're not trying to disadvantage in-state residents. Essentially in, in Oregon, where I did some of my reporting and I think in Arizona, pretty much any qualified student that needs a place at a state university can probably find one, all other things being equal. What they don't have is enough students to fill the classes, enough students to fill the campus at the size that it is now. As the population of high school age students rises, they'll have a larger pool of in-state students and might not have to recruit so much out of state for the schools that are actively recruiting out of state students.
BRODIE: Did any of them talk about looking at what the tuition is at private colleges or universities, for example? And do I wonder if maybe they see private schools as perhaps more of their competition?
POVICH: Well, they're happy to mention the fact that private private schools are A) more selective, harder to get into and B) more costly. So if you can say as a California student, come to Arizona have a different kind of experience, meet students from all over the world. Although we're advertising that now with lots of kids from everywhere, that might be a fun experience for you. And quite frankly, a lot less money than it would cost you to go to a private university.
BRODIE: Yeah. So I know that you had mentioned that the schools are saying that they don't want to disadvantage in-state students, like, you know, Arizona State and the University of Arizona don't want to make it so that in-state students who want to go there cannot. But is there a population of students who would like to go to their state schools and you know, can't maybe afford to pay out-of-state tuition somewhere else and can't go there because of this influx of students from out of state to their home state?
POVICH: They will tell you that's not true. The schools themselves will tell you, that's not true. I am skeptical. I am skeptical mostly because of the higher tuition, these out-of-state students pay. Very difficult to turn down that tuition. When you look at the possibility of say half a dozen in-state students versus half a dozen out-of-state students, you're looking at, you know, tens of thousands of dollars, maybe $100,000 difference. And that's tough. So if you have two students who are equally qualified, one in state, one out of state, I think it would be tough. I think it would be difficult to make that decision in favor of the in-state student. Not saying that they do it. I can't prove it, but I am skeptical.
BRODIE: Well, it would seem as though it would be difficult for colleges and universities to wean themselves off of that money, especially as in many states, including Arizona, public support, government support for these schools is not necessarily going up.
POVICH: Not at all. And that's another key factor in the funding of these schools if they can't depend on the state legislatures to increase their funding, say with inflation or even better than inflation. Where's that money gonna come from?
