Given the high % of in-state students, is UT Austin too limited in student diversity in terms of geographical origin? Does it matter much in terms of the social and intellectual interactions on campus? We visited UT Austin and loved the campus, the city of Austin, the academic programs, and the obvious ethnic diversity on campus. But was wondering about the geographic diversity. DD is thinking of UT Austin, Rice, and Pomona College. Thanks in advance for your replies.
Texas is one of the largest, most populous states in the nation. It is not a monolithic place where everyone thinks the same because they are bounded in a land mass by a couple of rivers. There may be kids there who have never left the state or been exposed to other places, but I don’t think that is very common in the 21st century. YMMV.
Certainly in comparison to either Rice or Pomona College a public flagship school like UT is not going to have the same level of geographic diversity. However, that should not be surprising. UT is a publicly supported institution whose primary mission is to provide a first-rate education for Texans at an affordable price. The other institutions you listed don’t have any such mandate respective to Texas (Rice) or California (Pomona). On the other hand, one thing I’ve noticed after my several visits to Rice’s campus is that while it may have greater geographic diversity respecting its student body, the kids do kind of fit a more limited character type than the diversity of personalities found on a large campus like UT. I’ve never visited Pomona but my son has visited several selective liberal arts on overnight stays - Swarthmore, Carelton, Oberlin and Reed and his conclusion was the same. Now, depending on the student this could be an attraction, certainly my son thought that’s what he was interested in initially; however, he ultimately concluded that he would be more comfortable at a public flagship which tends to cast a wider net respective of the different types of kids it matriculates. In the end, every kid has to find his or her right fit. Its also why UT doesn’t compare itself to small selective university like Rice or a liberal arts college like Pomona. If you read some of UT’s institutional research reports, it compares itself to “peer institutions” such as California, Wisconsin, UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State, North Carolina and large public flagship schools. Those institutions share similar characteristics including something you’ve noticed about UT-Austin, a large percentage of their respective student bodies being composed of in-state students.
@fatherof2boys Thanks very much for your comments. Yes, diversity may not be easily determined with superficial evidence. Socio-economic diversity may indeed be lacking despite ethnic and geographic diversity. So published stats can be misleading. We will visit all three schools’ admitted students events to get a closer look for ourselves.
@fatherof2boys Regarding the mandate to provide education at an affordable price. Pomona has made a concerted effort to provide very affordable education to a wide audience. Their generous financial aid policies and outreach programs (Posse, QuestBridge, etc.) distinguish them from many other LAC’s. Colby College seems to have made such outreach a priority as well.
@Redpandabear well good luck to your decision-making process. I think all three schools are somewhat different; however, within their respective classifications (large public institution; small private university; and liberal arts college) UT-Austin, Rice and Pomona are about as good as it gets - especially Pomona which is best liberal arts college this side of the Mississippi.
@Redpandabear Yes, that’s certainly one of the most admirable characteristics of Pomona and about 60 other schools that promise to meet full financial need, some of which do so without loans such as Pomona, Bowdoin, Swarthmore and of course all of the Ivies and schools like the University of Chicago. I think that’s an amazing thing that these schools do to try to attract high-performing kids from a variety of backgrounds, not everyone pays that $60,000 per year sticker price and that’s the way it should be. Its truly incredible and I wish that more deserving kids were aware of the financial assistance that these schools offer which can for some kids result in a net price lower than attending their in-state public option such as a UT-Austin.
Of course, if you a upper middle-income your expectation of what’s full financial need might be a little higher than what the schools conclude. Our family was told that our expected family contribution was about $42K a year. We are fortunate that the schools concluded that our economic situation is such that we should be able to afford $42K annually, but we aren’t really in a position to pay that amount. For us, the $25K annual cost of attendance at a school like UT-Austin is a better fit when my son is going to be a liberal arts major with hopes of attending law school.
“… one thing I’ve noticed after my several visits to Rice’s campus is that while it may have greater geographic diversity respecting its student body, the kids do kind of fit a more limited character type than the diversity of personalities found on a large campus like UT.”
@fatherof2boys Could you please describe your perception of the “character type” of Rice students? Thanks!!