<p>Id like to pass on some additional information about this scholarship change. </p>
<p>Starting this year, instead of 18% of freshmen at UNC being from another state, it will be 23%. This means that this year 200 North Carolina students will not be able to attend Carolina who otherwise could have with the planned enrollment increase. </p>
<p>Assuming that average SAT scores for residents and non-residents stay the same, the overall average for the entering freshman class will be 3.5 points higher than it otherwise would have been. Considering that there will be more out-of-state students being admitted than before, the OOS SAT average might actually go down, which would mean that there will be an even smaller change.</p>
<p>As far as the tax implications, when this scholarship policy takes full effect over all 16 campuses in the UNC system in four years, the taxpayers of N.C. will pay an additional $35 million or so each year to cover the additional costs.</p>
<p>Of the schools on U.S. News' Top 60 Universities list, only 3 charge non-residents less than does UNC-CH (#27). These are, #50-University of Florida, #52-University of Texas, and #58 University of Georgia.</p>
<p>I read these posts and understand your concerns if you are instate. But you must also realize that a school that has few out-of-state kids makes the pool of students very "similar" thus less appealing to some. I guess I am new to this but I was very surprised when I realized that UNC ONLY took 18% out-of-state. Diversity makes a school. If you don't want that, then go to a community college. To get diversity, you need not only other races and religions but people from different places bringing in different ways of doing things. Of course the expense is a concern. But is there a college out there that does not do this? Don't most colleges take even more out-of-state kids than 18%? That just seems really low to me? EVERYONE says wow, no one gets into UNC from out-of-state. That sounds great but do all of you from NC want your kids going to school with just other NC kids? Because that sounds a little like a continuation of high school.</p>
<p>beatduke: I agree that diversity is a good thing. I think most of us who choose to send our kids to public universities, rather than private, support all aspects of diversity. That said, I can't agree that it is ONLY diversity that "makes a school." </p>
<p>Just speaking for myself, I have no problem with the UNC system increasing, to a degree, the percentage of OOS. I do, however, question the indirect way this is currently being accomplished. I think you have to re-read the posts here to fully understand and appreciate why this might be an issue. </p>
<p>As to your question that "most colleges take even more out-of-state kids than 18%," I assume you mean public universities. I do think the difference might be that many public universities receive less in state tax support. UVA, as an example, receives only about ~10% of its funding from the state of VA (i.e., taxpayers), compared to ~40% that the UNC system receives from the state of NC. Consequently, if a school receives so little from its state, it can run itself much more like a private institution would.</p>
<p>With this change, UNC's freshman class will actually be composed of 23% students from out-of-state. Of the in-state students, many of these grew up in other states and even other countries. In one of my daughter's classes, the professor asked those who were born and raised in North Carolina to raise their hands, and only a few did so, even though many were residents. Our country has become so transient that there are far more similarities than differences among people from different states, and North Carolina is a very diverse state in itself. I've lived in 7 states as an adult and have far more in common with many of the people that I knew in those places than I do with my neighbors here. I welcome anyone's explanation of how coming from another state significantly adds to true diversity, but I personally don't see it; different countries, yes, but not different states. I'm not saying that UNC-CH shouldn't admit out-of-state students, but I don't think that their being from another state benefits the University by itself.</p>
<p>To say that a school that admits a low percentage of out-of-state students is comparable to a community college would be to say the same of the top-ranked public school, UC-Berkeley, which admits only 9% of its students from out of state, or UCLA, which is the third-ranked public and admits 5% oos.</p>