For the parents of the class of 2017 and 2018 especially, an interesting article about how tuition and acceptance at state schools are failing their mission in favor of more income… http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/us/public-colleges-chase-out-of-state-students-and-tuition.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
Interesting idea. The in-state budget cuts cause the flagship state schools to target higher-paying out-of-state students. The top in-state kids who are not accepted to the flagship university that their parents attended or peers will attend do not want to go to the regional in-state so they end up at some other state’s flagship or go private.
The other state’s flagship tries to attract the out-of-state top kids with scholarships, which makes it less expensive than full out-of-state, but still more expensive than in-state would have been. Total cost of education goes up, but (if you agree flagship beats regional) each party is acting in its rational best interest.
Hard to calculate intangibles such as economic loss to state of having little Johnny go off to school elsewhere, decide he likes it there, and never coming back. Still, it would be nice and reduce total education costs if the flagship state schools could decide to stop rejecting their own kids in order to poach another state’s top students.
Many are also filling their beds with international students who are full pay. Maine is attempting to pull from a bunch of states in the northeast by offering students the same rate as they would pay at their state’s flagship institution.