<p>When people go to colleges/universities outside of their state, do they really pay 'out of state fees' ? Or is it more like a 'tag price' as in a price for show? It sounds ridiculous that people pay like 3 times as much to study outside of their state.</p>
<p>You are speaking of public universities for which the in-state tuition is always less than out-of-state (OOS). Anyone OOS will pay the OOS tuition absent any scholarships. Often there are some scholarships available, equalling the portion of the tuition that is OOS or some part of that, for OOS with high grades and test scores but there are many who do attend and pay the full freight. Why they or their parents end up doing so varies but often there is a perception that the other state’s college is better (e.g., it is ranked much higher than the home state) and the price is actually less than an equally ranked private university.</p>
<p>You are assuming that all states have quality state schools…many do not…and it’s more like twice as much</p>
<p>“do they really pay ‘out of state fees’ ?” If their Fin Aid determination dictates, you bet they are required to pay full OOS fees. Why is this strange to you? Some people find this to be an acceptable cost.</p>
<p>A lot of students take out large student loans to pay the OOS fees. It doesn’t always turn out well.</p>
<p>You are correct that it is ridiculous to pay two or three times the amount of money that your home-state public U costs for the very same education at an OOS institution. Smart students (and parents) figure that out early on.</p>
<p>In almost every instance, there is an in-state public institution that will work for a student. It may not be his or her favorite, or the truly “best possible” option, but it will indeed help that person get on to the next stage of life. In some rare instances there are no in-state public options that will do (think something like Maritime Engineering for a student living in one of Rocky Mountain states). If that is your personal situation, then you need to try to figure out how to afford the OOS public institution or the private institution that is necessary for your career goal. For ideas along that line, spend some time reading through the threads in the Financial Aid Forum.</p>
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<p>Actually UCB (University of California, Berkeley) does cost more for OOS students because it is a public college in California.</p>
<p>+1</p>
<p>And the difference between OOS and IS tuition, I’ve been told, is to encourage in-state residents to remain in-state for public universities as opposed to going away for private ones.</p>
<p>The low in-state tuition is because the taxpayers in that state help pay the bills for that institution. That is why they get the price break. Sort of the way we pay taxes that support out free public schools. If you want to attend a public high school that is across the state line from where you live, it is almost certain that you will be charged non-resident tuition and fees.</p>
<p>HarvardGrad01, I think you may have missed the important distinction when it comes to tuition. It isn’t “Ivies and other top colleges” vs. the rest; it’s public vs. private.</p>
<p>Many colleges and universities receive support from state governments. Some of these are quite well regarded institutions (e.g., UC Berkeley, U of Texas at Austin, College of William and Mary), and some of them are quite mediocre (I will decline to name names). Other colleges and universities receive no government support. Some of these are quite well regarded institutions (e.g., the Ivies, Amherst College, Stanford, Duke), and some of them are quite mediocre (again, no names).</p>
<p>The colleges and universities that receive government support will have one tuition for students who are residents of the state (because those students or their families have been subsidizing the university with their state tax dollars all along), and another tuition for students who are not residents of the state (because those students and their families have not been subsidizing the university with their state tax dollars). The colleges and universities that are private charge all students the same tuition, regardless of their residency, because no students or families have been supporting these institutions with their tax dollars.</p>
<p>Yes.
Taxpayers of the state have already put their dollars into the education system to enrich their residents.
OOS students are paying what would be a “fair market value” for the education.
The scholarships, merit aid, etc. encourage top students (including OOS) to attend an institution to enhance the reputation of that institution.</p>