<p>[Most</a> UA freshmen hail from outside state | TuscaloosaNews.com](<a href=“http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20111204/NEWS/111209902/1007/news?p=all&tc=pgall]Most”>http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20111204/NEWS/111209902/1007/news?p=all&tc=pgall)</p>
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<p>*Alabama Rep. John Merrill, R-Tuscaloosa, said that though he has heard people in the community voice concern with the growing number of out-of-state students, restrictive legislation would be hard to pass and he would be against it.</p>
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<p>Merrill said he felt the state Legislature would need to step in only if in-state applicants were being turned away from UA in favor of out-of-state applicants.</p>
<p>Because there’s no indication that that is happening, Merrill said bringing in students from outside the state is a necessity for UA’s continued growth.</p>
<p>“We only have 4.7 million people here in the state of Alabama and there is a finite number of students that graduate from our high schools in Alabama each year,” he said. *</p>
<p>There are probably complainers that don’t realize how much Bama has grown. When they hear that over 50% are from OOS, they wrongly assume that Bama is rejecting instate kids in favor of OOS kids…which it’s not.</p>
<p>I wonder what accounts for the decline in the number of in-state students.</p>
<p>*I wonder what accounts for the decline in the number of in-state students. *</p>
<p>Alabama is a lowish populated state that has a relatively high number of good publics to choose from…Bama, Auburn, UAB, UAH…and some would include USA. There are also other AL publics…like Auburn-Montgomery, Troy, Montevallo, JSU, UNA, etc. There are also a number of HBCUs and privates. </p>
<p>Room and board can cost more than tuition! If a student can commute to one of the above schools and save on R&B, that may be the most economical choice.</p>
<p>I don’t think there have been any dramatic increases in admissions standards, yet every year since around 2003 the acceptance rate has declined. It is now down to around 53% I believe. It used to be around 80%. So I think whatever increases in admissions standards have had some effect. I think some in state students chose not to apply because they didn’t want to get rejected. Another factor is the economic downturn. It is much cheaper for a student in Alabama to attend AUM, UAH, or Troy, for example.</p>
<p>It is NOT cheaper to attend UAH. It’s about the same, but if that school is within driving distance of home, it does become much cheaper.</p>
<p>*It is NOT cheaper to attend UAH. It’s about the same, but if that school is within driving distance of home, it does become much cheaper. *</p>
<p>That’s my point. If a person lives within a commutable distance to UAH or UAB (or the others) then it is much cheaper.</p>
<p>That said…it can be cheaper to “go away” to UAB and UAH (or other AL publics) because some of their scholarships are larger for lower stats…and their Super Suites cost less. </p>
<p>My friend’s D will go to UAB over Bama because with her ACT 28, she gets a bigger scholarship…so it will be cheaper…unless Bama surprises them with another scholarship.</p>
<p>This is such good news to me!
This will be great for networking opportunities.</p>
<p>I think Alabama’s strategy is brilliant. It is like a big national brain drain, with many disenchanted folks heading to Bama. We are in NY. Our SUNY schools are expensive with very little merit aid. So if you are a high performing student, which would you pick-a 17K SUNY or FREE Bama with honors college etc.
-Also, the personal attention we have received from Bama is outstanding. Some of the NE colleges rely on ROBO correspondence, and I’m not even sure if docs have been received. I’ve given up trying to get answers about much of anything. (I am referred to the FAQ’s) The application process at Bama is streamlined, personal and easy. I was notified personally when items were missing/not received.
And this is a stupid little thing, but it is nice to get snail mail letters relating to being accepted, scholarships etc.
In ten years, many of the scholars that Bama has attracted will be living, working and making Alabama a desirable place to live with added tech, small startups and new jobs. In the long run, the national recruitment of top students will pay huge dividends.</p>
<p>I think Alabama’s strategy is brilliant. It is like a big national brain drain, with many disenchanted folks heading to Bama.</p>
<p>Roll Tide!</p>
<p>and the rest of the country will be scratching their heads. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>When did they implement this scholarship program?</p>
<p>I will tell you that there is discussion regarding this over on Save Alabama Pact on Facebook- many people are unhappy that the university alabama helps OOS kids and will not help the PACT kids with tuition… they seem to think their contract was a guarantee even when the economy tanked…</p>
<p>* many people are unhappy that the university alabama helps OOS kids and will not help the PACT kids with tuition*</p>
<p>Alabama helps both instate and OOS kids with tuition scholarships. Many kids at Bama have reduced tuition or pay no tuition because of scholarships and then they also have their PACT money on top of that.</p>
<p>And, the instate kids can get full tuition scholarships with lower stats than what OOS kids need.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that most OOS kids are not getting large scholarships. Bama enrolled about 3,000 OOS frosh, and probably only about 300 got a large scholarship. the ones who are getting the large scholarships have high stats…which helps the school.</p>
<p>BTW…what are the other Alabama publics doing with PACT? Are they accepting it as tuition paid in full? I don’t think Auburn is…and maybe some others aren’t either. So, why are people mad at “Alabama”???</p>
<p>they are mad at Alabama and Auburn b/c they didn’t offer to accept PACT for the tuition they are only accepting 2010 tution rates so parents must pay the difference… i assume UAH and the others are accepting PACT for the full tuition unlike Al and AU. I don’t understand why thse parents didn’t plan to have backup funds-nothing is ever guaranteed…</p>
<p><strong><em>Keep in mind that most OOS kids are not getting large scholarships. Bama enrolled about 3,000 OOS frosh, and probably only about 300 got a large scholarship. the ones who are getting the large scholarships have high stats…which helps the school.</em></strong></p>
<p>Just from reading CC, one might not realize this, but it’s true. My D’s suburban Chicago high school doesn’t send a lot of kids to Alabama (maybe one or two a year), but from looking at Naviance, of the 8 kids who are attending/have attended in recent years, not a single one has had the stats for even the smallest of the out-of-state scholarships.</p>
<p>hless…not exactly accurate… Pact contracts initially were GUARANTEED, and then they changed the language in 1995 i think PACT monies were invested unwisely and they ended up with insufficient funds… so in 2010 the legislature passed a bill… they would add about 500M dollars to the fund to make it whole BUT in order for the money to last for existing pact contracts…the schools would have to agree to a cap of 3.8% increase in tuition per year. UAsystems, Auburn would NOT agree…other schools, Troy, Jackson etc did…however as the majority of pact holders would be attending uasystem or auburn it meant not enough money again. PACT fund can not continue to pay the contracts if tuition goes up more than 3.8% per year. </p>
<p>so there was a settlement… pact would pay from now on only at 2010 rates (even if you use the contract 10 years from now)… That settlement was approved…then a month ago the supreme court put a stay on that settlement based on appeal… so right now no one is sure what pact will pay, if they will pay,. If it goes back to trial, there is the strong possibility that the legislature will not put in the promised 500M which means everyone who paid for a pact contract will not have tuition paid and will lose all or some of their money.</p>
<p>so yes some people are upset… if uasystems and auburn had agreed to the cap, pact would be solvent. and sorry but the language of the contract is GUARANTEED up until 1995 perhaps later. Parents did have backup plans for food and dorms etc… right now the difference in the cap and the actual tuition is about $900…so the pact holders wish that the UA/systems, auburn etc were trumpeting how they helped their own state students and helped make pact work rather than being so happy that now the school is 51% oos. its all perception!</p>
<p>these school could have capped instate tuition (and sorry) but passed on that 900 to oos. They could have reduced merit scholarships to account for that 900.</p>
<p>they are mad at Alabama and Auburn b/c they didn’t offer to accept PACT for the tuition they are only accepting 2010 tution rates so parents must pay the difference… i assume UAH and the others are accepting PACT for the full tuition unlike Al and AU.</p>
<p>* UAsystems [UA, UAB, UAH], Auburn would NOT agree…other schools, Troy, Jackson etc did…*</p>
<p>That’s what I thought. People shouldn’t be mad at Bama.</p>
<p>not necessarily mad…upset is more like it… at ANY school that would not work with its own state students/legislature to honor a contract.</p>
<p>The majority of the blame with PACT falls with the state, not the UA or AU systems. People bought into the program with the assumption that the program would pay for tuition at current rates. College tuition has been rising at rate higher than inflation for many years; the state should have known that expecting a 3.8% or less annual increase in tuition is unreasonable. There is nothing preventing the legislature from funding the program’s deficit as a lot of states already do. The UA and AU systems have the right to set their own tuition rates; if the Alabama legislature doesn’t like this, they can take away this “home rule.” </p>
<p>I see UA becoming a lot like the University of Delaware in that most of the students are from other states as the state that the university is located in does not have enough students, let alone top talent, for the university to sustain its increased size and prominence. The state of Alabama needs to focus on getting these OOS students to remain in Alabama after graduation. Right now, that isn’t happening.</p>
<p>In terms of OOS students, the state of Alabama is shooting itself in the foot by specifying that OOS tuition must be a certain percentage or higher (225% IIRC) of the in-state tuition. This law makes it harder for schools to adjust tuition rates to ensure adequate demand. UA would love to have more students during the summer terms, but few OOS students are willing to pay $900+ per credit when other states’ universities will charge much lower rates (eg I paid $175 per credit at a 4-year flagship university this summer). Community colleges often charge less than $500 for non-state supported courses, so UA could likely charge $300 per credit ($900 per course) in the summer and not need any state support.</p>
<p>thanks for clearing it up for me— I just read all of the complaints from these people and they must not have any other funds b/c they are so upset- apparently a parent has filed suit so it is on hold again … it’s a mess…I just hope that son gets in to Alabama -he has a 3.5 and is retaking ACT-he is a Junior…</p>