Today's Chronicle of Higher Education has an interesting story about changes in admissions practices at five colleges, including Colorado State, a large state university with approximately 20,000 full-time undergraduates.
According to the latest U.S. News Guide, sixteen percent of Colorado State's undergraduate student body comes from out-of-state. According to the Chronicle story, this percentage has risen with successive freshman classes; the most recent class was 21 percent non-residents.
While each non-resident student pays more for their space in the class, their enrollment takes spaces away from resident students who might have been admitted to the university a short time ago.
Colorado State charged in-state students approximately $7,000 for this past school year,including campus fees. This will increase by at least $1,000 for the 2011-12 academic year, according to the Chronicle story. However, resident students who come from families hat earn incomes of $55,000 or less will pay only around $4,000 for tuition.
The story mentions nothing about an increase in out-of-state tuition, which is approximately $23,000. This was an increase of slightly less than $1,000 from the previous year, according to U.S. News and the university Website.
This year, there were approximately 7,300 applications for an estimated 900 spots for non-resident students in the freshman class. Last year, using data from U.S. News and the school's Web site, Colorado State's yield rate--the share of accepted students who choose to go--was 41 percent, so the school would admit approximately 3,600 of these applicants, maybe more, maybe less, depending on the scholarships awarded.
According to the Chronicle story, out-of-state applicants may receive grants that range from $3,000 through $9,000 depending on their academic records and how well they maintain their grades. The university is also a member of the Western Undergraduate Exchange. Out-of-state freshman who reside in any one of 14 states who major in one of 63 subjects at Colorado State pay 150 percent of in-state tuition. This reduces their tuition and fees to an estimated $12,000 for the coming academic year. This is an $11,000 discount from the out-of-state charges--almost half-off the sticker price.
For out-of-staters, the better student starts out with a financial advantage and possibly an academic one as well. The university has an Honors Program that admitted approximately 350 freshman last year. More money and special treatment can't hurt in bringing better students to campus.
As I read these numbers I see that Colorado State is becoming an academic bargain for disadvantaged students as well as out-of-state students if they qualify for scholarships. Not to mention, the school has not been impossible to get into. According to the U.S. News Guide, Colorado State accepted 72 percent of all applicants.
Last year, this school attracted a record freshman class with nearly 4,500 students so the aspects of this strategy: out-of-state enrollment increases, scholarship programs and the Honors Program, among others, must be working. This year's class likely comes from a larger applicant pool as tuition and fees have become more competitive while the scholarship programs have become more ambitious.
In an ideal state, a state university would be the near-exclusive province of in-state students who would face an exceptionally competitive admissions process, but would pay an exceptionally minimal fee for their education, a fee low enough to avoid major debt. Obviously, those days are gone in many states, Colorado certainly being one of them. But so far, Colorado State's admissions strategy is working in terms of bringing new freshmen through the front gate while helping the school make-up for lost revenues from state budget cuts.
However, one critical question cannot be answered until the members of the freshman classes of 2010 and 2010 get closer to graduation: If we got a larger and better qualified student body, did our graduation and retention rates go up?
The U.S. News Guide reported that 82 percent of Colorado State freshmen, on average from 2005 through 2008, continued on to their sophomore year. The same source also reported that 64 percent of the students who entered Colorado State in 2003 had graduated by 2009. The numbers are quite close to those of a sister school, the University of Colorado-Boulder (84 and 67 percent), but higher-rated state schools have freshman retention rates that are better than 90 percent and graduate more than three-quarters of their students within six years.
If the various scholarship programs lead to a highly qualified and highly satisfied student body, then Colorado State has developed a model that other state schools may use to raise revenues while getting better students.
The administrations of state schools with exceptionally low percentages of out-of-state students--the University of California system and Rutgers-New Brunswick are two prominent examples--will be following Colorado State's efforts closely. If Colorado State succeeds, other schools will follow with similar strategies. In-state students will be less likely to take their state schools for granted.
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