<p>Out of staters are important to an in-state school. Not only do they provide diversity, they also increase prestige (if people from other states want to come there, it must be good!) And more importantly: they pay more. So a state must walk a delicate balance between attracting OOSers - probably they give back more than they /get/ in merit money, and perhaps they even help fund MORE merit scholarships for in-staters! - and making sure there’s overall net gain.</p>
<p>I don’t think any university would accept OOSers overall at a net loss…so yes, OOSers have every right to complain, especially if they are hit with tuition increases unexpectedly (now, it would be stupid for one to complain if you knew the price going in, but that’s true in all circumstances!). The uni wants them to be happy for the good of all students.</p>
<p>Universities do accept OOSers at a net loss though there are reasons for that. They may want an outstanding high-school candidate to improve their stats or fill a particular position in an EC or help to populate a major that doesn’t have enough students.</p>
<p>There may be reciprocal arrangements between states to allow a community of states to offer more majors to students at in-state rates. There may be arrangements to offer discounts because of distance. A person in one state may be far closer to an out-of-state university than any in their own state.</p>
<p>The person to complain to would be your representative. I don’t know how that works for out-of-state.</p>
<p>*Can a resident complain when the state university gives merit money to out of staters? If it’s taxpayer dollars, I’d rather see it go to state residents. *</p>
<p>I don’t know how each state school funds it’s merit money. I’ve been told that my kids’ flagship funds its merit scholarships with alumni dollars, not tax-payer dollars.</p>
<p>But, if some schools are using tax dollars, they probably aren’t giving out many scholarships and are only doing it to help their rankings. Schools “look better” to ranking systems if they have more high stats kids and more kids from OOS.</p>
<p>They can complain, but the only complaint that might be meaningful is to walk away and go elsewhere. Presumably a student knows before choosing the OOS public that OOS tuition is higher and they can make a choice at that point.</p>
<p>We’re in a state with a relatively expensive in-state flagship (Illinois), especially in certain majors like engineering, sciences and business. In those majors, my kids could go to Minnesota, which I consider to be a very good school, for less than the cost of our state flagship. So, do you think in-state students have the right to complain about high tuition?</p>
<p>Complains aside, state school fees is a mixture of economics and politics. Imagine the uproar if a state school agrees to charge OOS the same as in-state. In some cases it might make economic sense (e.g. out of state students come in, live in that community, pay sales tax on purchases etc.), in other cases there is a direct subsidy to in-state students and taxpayers may have a beef. A common argument is that if you want your state students to get a good education, you pay for it. If your state institution is not well funded, that is your state’s problem, not ours (assuming a student is going to another state as their state school is not that well thought off). </p>
<p>State Colleges cannot set the fees based on their needs, it is set for them either by the legislature or by a Board composed of political appointees, who have their own agendas. Hence, in-state and out of state fees is not rationally decided but influenced by a set of logical and emotional factors.</p>
<p>emeraldkity4, I’m very proud of the in-state tuition being extended to children and spouses of active duty military as that is an issue I have been involved in for the past 20 years. And, of course, you are correct so long as the student wants to attend either in the state that parent is a resident of or stationed in. Further, it ends the day the active duty member retires. </p>
<p>In my opinion, I think that children of retired military members (that means they have served at least 20 years), should be allowed to have in-state tuition at the college of their choice. </p>
<p>In WWII approx 9% of the US population served in the military. In Iraq and Afghanistan it’s approx .5%, hence the long and multiple tours. There is a very small percentage of the population that has borne this weight. I believe that offering in-state tuition to the children of that fighting force is a small way to say “thank you for your sacrifice as well.”</p>
<p>Of course, I’m going to go down swinging for military families as they are my family.</p>
<p>OOS students have the right to complain about high tuition. As previous posters have stated, we often subsidize the in-state students. Especially in states with no state income tax, there is not that much difference from a tax prospective between in-state and OOS. We still pay sales tax, gasoline tax, sin taxes, and possibly property tax. Because my college’s state makes it near impossible to get in-state rates during college, I have zero incentive to become a state resident. My scholarship is funded via alumni donations in the hope that I will bring prestige to my university, not that I will remain in the state after graduation. Like a previous poster’s son, I consider myself to be a US citizen more than a resident of a certain state.</p>