I have not read anything that a national ranking or qualification would play any part. State schools would be tuition free for state residents, but if you live in Texas, why would it matter what Utah is doing or that Vermont includes art and music in the gpa? You don’t get to go to Utah or Vermont schools for free. The students would still have to be accepted to Mich or Texas or Cal so those schools don’t have to change their admission standards either. The competition might be increased if more high school seniors think they’d like to save money by staying instate, but there would still be the same number of students accepted at the top school. Those who might have been accepted to the top instate school but now aren’t because of the increased popularity of staying instate will be bumped to the next level, and some from that level might be bumped to the next lower level, until there is no more room for instate students at the community college level. I don’t see anyone being shut out. Currently some of the community colleges are free or very low cost, and you don’t see a lot of students shut out of those.
Of course if this happened there would be more room at OOS or private schools, so maybe some who weren’t accepted at those schools now would be, and that would free up some of the flagship spots. It’s just a shuffling of where students attend and who pays for it. There should still be the same number of students.