For those wondering what some of the drivers of the numbers are. It also puts into perspective why a school as wealthy as UM seems to be constantly in fundraising mode. While it is clear that the absolute endowment is large, the per capita endowment is not large. Send in your check today 
Students: 43,625
Endowment: 9.47 billion
Endowment/Student: 217K.
Not really low…
From a OOS applicant perspective, many publics seem ultra competitive to get into, and, of course, more expensive. The net result is that once high performing OOS applicants accept/attend, the overall caliber of the student body is something less than expected.
@adkdad‌ - can you elaborate? I don’t understand what you are trying to say. Are you saying for the OOS student, the caliber of the student body is actually less than their perception prior to arriving?
My comments was not specific to Michigan, but yes. I have heard similar stories from several students in my area over the years. Basically, for OOS applicants it seems more competitive that for in state for many schools. And, while I understand that the objective of public schools is to educate their in state students, I have just heard that upon arrival the students perceive a difference.
On the flip side, the draw for the school to attract OOS is that obviously they pay more.
Well, I have an OOS senior at UM, and he has been nothing but impressed by the strength of the student body, certainly including the in state students.
I think the point about salaries is misleading. The faculty bring in ~800 million dollars in external grants that more than justify salaries.
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/04/25/universities-getting-the-most-government-money/3/
With 10% of MSU’s student body high paying international students, it would be nice if the costs would ease up for in state students. We have seen a dramatic influx of Chinese students in town, and while we welcome all students, we don’t want in state students to lose spots at the university.
“It would be nice if the cost would ease up for instate students.” Is this a serious comment? Here’s some food for thought:
- Tuition increases have been capped for instate but remain uncapped for OOS.
- At a recent "Campus Day," the financial aid presenter cavalierly announced that
"if you want to determine the OOS tuition, just double the instate tuition!
While my child has been accepted to and will attend Michigan in the fall, I must tell you that
it appears Michigan administration is, at every possible turn, about as unsympathetic to the
financial plight of OOS students and families as they could possibly be. Interestingly,
they simultaneously state how they value and want more OOS students, and in fact the
OOS students now make up nearly half of the student population. So please don’t be crying about
the need to ease up on instate students. Here’s my response to that: if Michigan truly
wants more OOS students, then make it worth our while to attend a place that has
one of the poorest OOS merit-based scholarship track records among similar quality schools.
Simply put, maybe Michigan needs to put some money where its mouth is, and stop biting the hand that feeds
it.
^“Here’s my response to that: if Michigan truly
wants more OOS students, then make it worth our while to attend a place that has
one of the poorest OOS merit-based scholarship track records among similar quality schools.”
@michiganwannabe - Michigan wants a large share of OOS because they can fill the seats at full cost. While they have a current campaign to raise funds that will improve OOS need-based (before merit), Michigan still is relying on the OOS tuition to fund the University and keep in state tuition down. Much of this is caused of course by the ever reduced % of state funding.
My point exactly: don’t bite the hand that feeds you means just that. If OOS students are a desired commodity for Michigan for whatever reason (financial, university diversity, etc.), then provide an incentive for OOS to go there, other than U of M’s supposed prestige, easily matched and surpassed by many other universities.
The poster is likely a MSU student.
My son is an OOS freshman. Once it is decided that you are not going to choose your own state schools your are faced with private schools or public schools in other states. In general, selective private schools give very little merit only aid, so that if you don’t qualify for need based aid you pretty much pay the same at Michigan or a selective private school (although Michigan OOS might be slightly less). If you qualify for need based aid, a private selective school will most likely be much cheaper for you because they attempt to meet need (although their view of your need may differ from yours). I guess that results in a place like Michigan having OOS students with wealthier parents, although other schools that do meet need, such as Wash U where my older son attends, probably have wealthier kids overall than Michigan has.
“My point exactly: don’t bite the hand that feeds you means just that. If OOS students are a desired commodity for Michigan for whatever reason (financial, university diversity, etc.), then provide an incentive for OOS to go there”
What I’m saying is that Michigan doesn’t need to offer an incentive to fill the seats with high stats students. Though again, the current campaign should have an outcome of providing for need based for OOS candidates.
While it is true that Michigan has been historically stingy with aid (translation, has acted with minimal resources) several things should be noted:
-
the university has raised $1,700,000,000 which is earmarked to generate income for aid;
-
at present, something like 20% of the entire endowment is slanted toward aid;
-
the current capital campaign seeks another $1,000,000,000 to endow aid;
-
aid jumped last year from $160MM to $180MM and is likely to continue on that sort of trajectory.
None of this helps the sub-marginal aspirant today, but paltry aid has been a function of slim resources rather than some sort of institutional animus. Things will get better, but it takes time to pool the funds together.
25 years ago, Michigan’s endowment was a grand total of $250MM; today, the endowment is around $9.7Bln, and the annual income is around $280MM, or larger than the entirety of that original endowment. As the fastest growing endowment in the nation over the last 25 years (I’ve calculated the growth against the top 25 schools) Michigan’s endowment has done quite well. If they keep the management team intact, it will only be easier for kids to attend in the coming years.
Every private school and state school has offered my child merit-based scholarships, and while I have not yet received Michigan’s aid letter, I have been led to believe that it will be minimal if anything at all. So Michigan remains the outlier. The question of why needs to be asked. Surely Michigan, while an excellent school, ranks lower than many other schools, yet its indifference toward being competitive scholarship-wise continues to baffle, and to lose potential high caliber students with better offers.
“Surely Michigan, while an excellent school, ranks lower than many other schools, yet its indifference toward being competitive scholarship-wise continues to baffle, and to lose potential high caliber students with better offers.”
That’s why they are in the middle of having a capital campaign to address your issue. In the meantime, Michigan seems to not have too many difficulties attracting full pay and high quality candidates from out of state.
As the parent of a prospective OOS I can see the university’s viewpoint. I don’t begrudge the fact that they can charge the OOS tuition they do. However, I would appreciate it if they would at least lock in tuition rates for 4 years for OOS students. The unknown is unsettling.
^^^^Not going to happen. Michigan doesn’t need to do it. Until the school finds they are having difficulty attracting top students, the status quo will persist. At this point, that doesn’t even seem to be remotely happening.
Why the callous lack of sensitivity to the simple request, from many OOS parents, for some empathy from U of M?
“Not going to happen…Michigan doesn’t need to do it” is another way of saying that U of M does only what dollar signs dictate that it do. Is this really the message which the poster wants to convey? Perhaps there needs to be a pow-wow between OOS and instate families to do some empathy training!!! (off-campus somewhere, so that U of M does not assess a fee for it!)