For Virginia and North Carolina, they are public schools that offer good financial aid to out-of-state students, unlike most other public schools.
For Michigan, not sure why it is that popular among out-of-state students – its offering of better than before out-of-state financial aid is only a very recent thing.
@ucbalumnus Good insight into UNC and UVA. UNC is so hard to get in for OOS applicants, as OOS is limited to 18%, which keeps the NC citizens happy, as they want access to a state supported school. Actually less than 20% of UNC’s budget comes from the state, though that’s a fortune compared to less than 6% at UVA. Aren’t nearly all OOS publics poor bargains? And even for in-state publics, I’d guess from my talking with some parents, is that they believe the publics are primarily funded by their taxes, not the low tuition. On another note, I think U of Alabama is very smart in their recruitment of OOS students. At my daughter’s school in NC, it was third in acceptances (behind UNC and NCSU) for the last class, though I do not know how many actually went, or how many were in the Honors program.
For higher income families that don’t qualify for need-based FA, OOS public is still a bargain compared to fullpay private.
I’ve counted matriculations from 10 of the nation’s most prestigious high schools (Exeter, Trinity-NY, Hotchkiss, Horace Mann, Dalton, Harvard-Westlake, College Preparatory-Oakland, San Francisco University High, Lakeside-Seattle, Ransom Everglades). Out of nearly 6000 matriculations I counted, Michigan got 188. That’s #10 overall (behind 5 of the Ivies, NYU, USC, Stanford, Chicago), and by far the most for any state school (ahead of #23 Berkeley, which got 76 matriculations). Michigan got at least 1 matriculation from 8 of the 10 schools I surveyed (at least 1 from all but 2 West Coast high schools), which suggests more national drawing power than other public universities. Maybe its nationally central location helps.
Students at these high schools presumably tend to be prestige-conscious and well-informed about colleges. They also tend to have high average test scores and come from affluent families. So they have a lot of freedom-of-choice in selecting colleges. But among their top 20 preferences, Michigan has the lowest sticker price (even for OOS students). So as PrimeMeridian suggested, it’s a relative bargain for higher income families.
For top students in the populous Northeast, Michigan may be perceived as the best state school East of the Mississippi and North of the Mason-Dixon. Virtually all the other “top” state schools in the East (UVa, W&M, UNC, GT) are in the South, which many Northeastern students (rightly or wrongly) prefer to avoid. It’s also a bit less selective than any of the Ivies, most of the NESCAC schools, or their peers (JHU, Swarthmore, Haverford, Georgetown, etc.) It’s a logical “match” choice for many high-stats, prestige-conscious students. The fact that it’s big, and traditionally fields good sports teams, helps with name-recognition. It’s also reputed to have a great college town.
Michigan offers excellent academic quality and name-recognition in an attractive setting for a lower price than most of the competition.
Academic quality is very important, however it has to come within the context of fit- which includes affordability and all of the other factors that the student may or may not want (size, distance, Greek life, etc).
@tk21769 That is great info on Michigan, and it makes me question my own idea that OOS publics are overpriced. There is the concept of ‘the wisdom of the crowds.’ Students all the over US are applying to Michigan and UNC and UC Berkeley for a reason. Maybe the same reason parents pay full freight for selective prestigious schools rather than send DD or DS to a less expensive (and ‘lower-ranked’) college with merit aid. I probably will do the same.
But regarding the Southern schools, some from the Northeast may want to come to UVA or GT to escape the winters. And it is great when they stay. I have lived in NC almost all my life, and the in-migration of highly-educated students and workers has been a boon. Though my 2 daughters insist on going to college in the Northeast or West Coast, which their mom and I support. Living in a different region for even 4 years is part of an education.