And it is interesting, reading the Merit thread, how even with the low OOS tuition they still give OOS tuition waivers. It begs the question, what kind of student do they think will pay in full the new 60% increase?
@am9799 I think that’s the question that Kaler is trying to find out. Looking at the stats of enrolled students, I noticed that CLA has about 325 and CSE about 200 out-of-state enrollees (non-resident US, I’m not looking at international because they are a different market). Those are the colleges that would be impacted the most. What we don’t know is admit rate and yield for each college by in-state vs. OOS nor do we know how many of those OOS enrollees have significant scholarship money (such as the Gold National and/or National Merit). I’m pretty sure that CSE attracts a large national applicant pool because I’ve heard that it’s considered a “safety” for many kids who are trying to get into places like UMich, Cal-Berkely/UCLA or Northwestern (or similarly ranked private) - all of which have higher OOS tuition sticker price. Not sure about CLA’s applicant pool but suspect it’s much more oriented toward in-state and WI/ND (which aren’t impacted by the tuition increase) and we are pretty sure it’s far less selective than CSE (I’ve back-of-the envelope calculated that CLA might have about a 50% acceptance rate while CSE has about a 25% - 30%. That’s a BIG difference!). These are all factors which UMN has a better handle on than we do (because UMN knows the stats but doesn’t publish them).
It will be interesting to see what happens to overall acceptance rate if/once the increases begin. I have no idea, of course, but I’m speculating that UMN is testing the hypothesis that it won’t change all that much - and if it does change the revenue increases will more than offset the decline. My reasoning is that the proposed increase is pretty big - a much smaller increase would have suggested that the expected selectively and yield are pretty sensitive to price.
Interesting enough the state has 1.9 billion surplus.
I do not think this is a state budget issue. It is about Minnesota students paying more for IS tuition than UW, UI, or UM. UIUC charges higher IS tuition than UM but that is because IL is broke.
I also think that UM is trying to send a message through rack price that they are at the level of UIUC, UW, and UM. The OOS tuition is at the bottom end of B1G and, maybe, the thinking is that price denotes quality.
Just my thinking, not a lot different than how For Profit companies think when they think of pricing as part of the 4Ps. UM is strong on the Product side of the 4Ps. They probably think they made a lot of strides in the Promotion side (another P) since the big OOS tuition cut in 2008 so they are more nationally known now. They need to work on Placement (last P) because I do not think they are really known well, top 3 recommended OOS universities, in the Chicago area with counselors, i.e. distributors, (at least that is my observation).
^ Good analysis @CyclonesGrad. I don’t know anything about the 4 Ps, and I don’t think this will hurt UMinn’s bottom line, and I think it makes sense for them.
Changes like this is hard for all those who looked at UMinn as an excellent school at an “affordable” price, who now have to look elsewhere. I’ve only been on CC a few months, and it’s a little frustrating when you attempt to plan ahead in a changing environment. But I get it. I’ve seen a lot of changes already, and I still have a year to go!
Well, good luck to them.
UMN will get the high stats kids because they will give merit aid to be on par with the OSU, UIUC of the world. This will affect the marginal OOS for each individual college, i.e. CSE 28 ACT, 3.75 GPA.
@2muchquan The landscape changes every year, unfortunately. College pricing is a negotiation between the buyer (student) and the seller (university). The stronger the stats, the better position the buyer is in due to demand. Unfortunately, university education has become a For Profit business disguised as an altruistic Non Profit entity.
@Mamelot Do you agree with what I say above? Maybe give your opinion because I value your thoughts.
I used to think that in-state subsidized OOS here, but after looking at other IS tuition from a lot of other public universities across the country I’m not sure of that anymore. Wis. and Iowa are cheaper for sure, but Penn State, UMich, and a whole bunch of others are comparable or even a bit more (perhaps I’m not thinking of cost of living differences . . . ). (And of course UIUC not part of the comparison here due to financial duress in the state).
To me, it’s less a question of financial necessity and more a question of fiduciary responsibility and good brand management. If you are underpriced then someone in the state has to make up the difference, and if you are investing in the brand that’s obviously to shift out that demand curve (more quantity demanded at a higher price). We’ve seen the investment, as @cyclonesGrad has pointed out. Now it’s time to examine what the new equilibrium price should be.
Anyone looking at the OOS sticker price knows it’s the best deal in town. It’s WAY under other comparable institutions. Obviously schools will differ one from the other in terms of scholarship availability but the sticker prices are all pretty much the same for everyone but UMN. Something was way out of whack, especially considering how hard it is to get into CSE, CBS, and CSOM.
I’m not sure if UMN is putting itself quite at the level of UMich. But certainly it wants to be considered more comparable to UWis. and is probably completely taking advantage of the fiscal issues affecting UIUC (as it should). I would expect to see UMN OOS tuition sticker end up at about that of UWis or UIA. Those four states - IA, MN, WI, and IL, probably do have a LOT of kids from the other states apply - they are all great schools as well! Interestingly, UWis accepted a smaller (notably so!) number of MN kids this past year and used other OOS and Int’l to fill the gap*. I’m thinking that the financial haggling going on between the state gov’t and the University there are impacting those admission #'s. I totally expect it to be harder for a MN kid to get into UWis. going forward. Fortunately, they publish their admission detail. UMN does not.
*For those not in the know, MN and WI have a compact to charge in-state tuition to each other’s admits.
@mamelot You are probably very right about UW accepting less Minnesota students because they needed to increase tuition income because of Walker’s cutbacks. I have heard that many UW system schools have sent out letters detailing tuition increases due to the budget cuts in Madison.
Good discussion about shifting the demand curve. Many business have lowered the price to drive demand until the product is perceived to be equal or better than competition. Look at Hyundai as an example!
As has been discussed on this site, a university is a “For Profit” disguised as a “Non Profit”. The same principles apply as would to any business.
BTW, UIUC has a published rate but that is for Liberal Arts. There is a surcharge for business and engineering. I believe business and engineering is a $5K/year surcharge.
UMN does not have that yet!
Carlson has a 2K/year surcharge.
Also, @cyclonesGrad, I think what happened w/r/t the flagship specifically is that they didn’t increase tuition this year but then Walker didn’t make good on some promised funds . . . no love lost between those two parties. I’m monitoring the fallout as D3 plans to apply next fall. I told her it’s less of a backup than it used to be. 
I wonder what is going to become of the surcharge at CSOM? I don’t think it was supposed to be temporary. Carlson had a problem with larger-than-typical class sizes for business schools and the $2,000 was supposed to go toward hiring new faculty, making the class sizes smaller, etc. That could be industry practice among nationally ranked business schools. Carlson is a different school than, say, CLA. What’s actually interesting is why hasn’t CSE followed suit - the tuition policy clearly changed to allow any college to propose a surcharge (this happened in 2012 I believe based on what I’ve been able to dig up on this issue). Are Carlson undergraduates more “demanding” than CSE undergrads? Or does CSE’s larger OOS and international presence effectively pay (via higher tuition) for the smaller class sizes in that college?
Interesting questions.
Well if they go through with this I probably won’t be able to attend unless I get the full out of state tuition waiver, which is pretty unlikely 
@TotallyTrudy I would not give up yet. In fact, with your ACT score, I would consider calling an admissions counselor to discuss the OOS Tuition Waiver. Maybe wait until after the turn of the year to see if you hear anything by year end.
Thanks for the encouragement @CyclonesGrad I called a week or two ago and he said I had a shot at it but definitely not guarentee. It’s okay though because I have some other good options.
@TotallyTrudy They said the same to me before my twins got it. They like to hedge their bets.
What month did they receive it? @CyclonesGrad
my DS is a freshman at U Minn CSE (aimed for chem eng) and had a 33 act, multiple AP, IBD didn’t get a penny in scholarship money. He was about top 12% in a school that doesn’t; weight GPA but runs the IBD as the most rigorous. (his GPA would have been 3.9 ish). AP scholar with distinction as a junior but no national merit, why would he have not got any OOS waiver as seems available? I emailed plenty, I phoned and was always blown off. I know that CSE might be more competitive than the other schools but I still think there was something we missed.
@TotallyTrudy Late October
@Alfonsia I truly cannot explain why your DS did not get the OOS waiver. Maybe the top 12%? Was it an ultra-competitive school?
If they don’t increase OOS scholarships they will lose a lot of OOS students. My S received scholarships from every other OOS into which he was accepted which made their price comparable or near our in-state flagship price. While UMN did not offer any money their OOS tuition made it affordable. Younger S (sophomore in hs) visited overnight with S who is a freshman and really liked UMN. I was strongly thinking he would end up attending as well but now I see that may not be a practical option. This is very disappointing. Many of the OOS are really reciprocals so UMN is not getting any extra funds from them.