The New Out-of-State Recruit

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09/14/2023 09:38

Subject: The New Out-of-State Recruit

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Anonymous

Some interesting points here. It is true that states are basically trying to draw off each other's wealthy white kids. But is there a solution to this? Eliminate the cost difference between in-state and OOS?

https://annehelen.substack.com/p/the-new-out-of-state-recruit

So #1, state flagships have poured tons of money into developing pipelines from affluent out-of-state high schools. They want feeder schools so that it’s normal for kids from say Long Island to apply to OSU, Wisconsin, Bama, Vermont, etc. Sometimes recruiters will make 2-3 visits a year to a private high school in another state to build the relationship. Another move is joining Common App (and requiring no supplemental essays) to make it easy to apply. Of course you have to spend money to make money. Schools will give out “merit” scholarships that lower the cost of nonresident tuition substantially. So until the feeder pipeline is established, nonresidents won’t be paying as much, kind of like how Lyft and Uber initially deflated their prices so people would get addicted. In turn, many Black, Brown, and low-income students who could have benefited from the resources of the state flagship (including the big alumni networks) get routed to regional state campuses, which can be great but are historically under-resourced.

#2 — in some ways, the rise of crossing state lines to attend another big state university is a weird amalgamation of rising economic inequality combined with the anxiety of the upper middle-class (UMC). So the rich are getting richer, and I would guess that there is a greater concentration of wealth in certain high schools. So you have more UMC people wanting UMC dreams and adventures for their kids. At the same time, the UMC feels insecure and crunched. $80,000-90,000/year for private college = serious sticker shock. However, out-of-state tuition at OSU is “only” (ha!) 36K which is steep, but more palatable than 60K+ at most privates. State flagships know that families, even relatively affluent ones, are price sensitive.

I’ve heard this story from my undergrads. They had good grades, good test scores, and were accepted at a lot of schools. Still, they didn’t qualify for need-based aid, and rightfully so. UMD was the most affordable place besides their in-state options, especially with a “merit” scholarship thrown in.

A #3 contributing factor is population growth; this dynamic is more prevalent in some states than others. We are basically at the peak of high school graduates, and that’s partially why kids in northern VA who would have gotten into UVA, Virginia Tech, etc. 10-20 years ago can’t bank on getting in. So they have to broaden their search, and other state flagships are out there waiting for them. However, it’s not just population growth. If these schools scaled back seats for nonresidents, they could accommodate more residents. It’s a weird game of musical chairs, for states to basically be swapping each other’s affluent, predominantly White student populations. Of course, they say they can’t because they need to make the money to make up for state budget cuts from 2008, but that’s somewhat debatable.