Re #25,
Many public universities still do subsidize OOS students with generous merit scholarships. The University of Alabama, for one, doesn’t come close to meeting need for in-state students but lavishes very generous National Merit awards regardless of state residency, and many other public universities have similar if less conspicuous merit scholarship policies. Some, like Michigan State’s honors college, reduce tuition for top OOS students to the in-state rate, and give additional merit awards on top of that. Taking another tack, the University of Virginia meets full need for all including OOS students, and the University of Michigan is committed to a goal of meeting full need for all its students supported by a $4 billion capital campaign now underway that, if successful, should allow it to meet that goal.
Such policies may be “politically difficult” in California but they’re quite common elsewhere.