W&M to increase in-state students over the next 5 years

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
1

<p>William</a> & Mary -*W&M to add more Virginians to entering class</p>

<p>Just spotted this on the website - it looks as if the political pressure brought to bear on W&M and UVA will result in an increased number of in-state students at both schools over the next 5 years. W&M will accept an additional 38 VA students this year (good news for the in-state applicants!), gradually increasing to a total of 150 additional in-state students. They'll also add 12 OOS students to the incoming class this fall.</p>

<p>Interesting article - I think even more highly of Taylor Reveley and other W&M administrators after reading it. The increase appears to be done in such a way as to maintain W&M's character and high-quality student body, while (one hopes) getting a bit of breathing space from the politicos. The article makes the point that those grabby :rolleyes: OOS students represent 35 percent of the student body but almost 2/3 of the tuition revenue.</p>

2

<p>frazzled 1, you are correct. Over the next five years W&M will eventually add 150 additional Virginians to our student body. It’s all about balancing the need to be responsive to our VA residents while maintaining the individual attention given to students which is a hallmark of the W&M education (meaning we are doing what we can to maintain our small class sizes, low student-to-faculty ratio, residential campus, etc).</p>

<p>Not sure what you mean by “grabby” out-of-state students but as we mentioned in an early post on a similar topic, out-of-state students contribute a lot more to W&M than finances. They provide perspectives, diversity, points of view and intangible qualities that help to make W&M the dynamic student body that it is.</p>

3

<p>the legislators in Richmond treat the top VA state schools like crap. They cut funding and cut funding, and then demand more services.</p>

<p>ugh.</p>

4

<p>

I was trying to be ironic there, but those smilies don’t always get the point across, do they? :D</p>

<p>I was responding to the legislators’ implication that in-state students are being unfairly pushed aside by undeserving OOSers. W&M is the unique institution it is in no small part because the OOSers do contribute diversity, stellar academic records and stats, and most of the tuition money. When we consider that Virginia taxpayers contribute less than 15 percent of the College’s annual budget, a 65/35 instate/OOS split seems a fair arrangement. Parent of two OOS students here, so I know they aren’t really “grabby.” :)</p>

<p>I wonder if this action will satisfy the parents of those NOVA students who weren’t accepted, who lit the fires under their legislators’ feet - probably not.</p>

5

<p>frazzled1, yes sadly the information age makes conveying emotion a bit tough. Couldn’t have said it better ourselves about what OOS students contribute to our campus.</p>

<p>We know that this debate has valid arguments on both sides. IS students are in the wonderful position of having a great public higher education system but also have no guarantees of being admitted to that system (something many other states have in place for their residents). OOS do contribute a great deal to the campus in many ways and are such a value added component that to limit their enrollment could have far reaching consequences for those students and the institution as a whole.</p>

<p>We hope that adding 150 Virginians to the class over the next five years will address the IS residents’ concerns without limiting OOS enrollment and still maintaining the close-knit community that is a hallmark of W&M</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Of course not - unless and until their “little darlin’” is accepted, they won’t be happy - after all, they paid their taxes, and so think their kids deserve to go to the VA State School of their choice - even if Junior got a 3.0 (weighted) with a 1500 SAT (all three part.) </p>

<p>I can’t even blame them for feeling that way, and our legislator’s <em>are</em> supposed to represent us, so I can’t even blame them (well, some do demagogue the issue quite a bit.)</p>

<p>The ones that should be ashamed are the newspaper journalists who, every year, like Spring weeds, will write multiple stories in different outlets on the tragedy that is in-state admissions, always with some headline like “Attending Virginia’s Elite Colleges Out-Of-Reach for Most”</p>

<p>In the intro paragraph, we’ll be introduced to some “victim” with a 4.0 GPA (never mentioning it’s a 5.0 possible scale, and that their class rank is #100 out of 500), who had lots of extracurricular activities (mostly involving XBox), and whose dreams of attending (W&M or UVA) were viciously destroyed by rich and unqualified OOS students, who (they imply) were only admitted because they pay OOS tuition rates. </p>

<p>Meanwhile, the uncaring, money-grubbing college administrators roast lobsters and unicorns over a bonfire of the laughingly discarded applications of those innocent in-state students, then afterwards, said administrators and OOS students dance in the ashes of their shattered dreams. Or, something like that … ;)</p>

<p>These poorly-researched articles appear in newspapers every year, because it’s something of an “easy A” for the reporter - can generate lots of controversy (and empathy) with an article that only requires finding one poster-child to play the part of victim and about 45 minutes to write.</p>

7

<p>As an out of state student, I tend to find those articles offensive. Personally, I am not a huge fan of my state schools- I would LOVE to live in Virginia. And, every year, some of my close friends who are high achieving students are rejected from UMD, sometimes due to overcrowding, sometimes for inexplicable reasons. If I lived in VA, I would not even be looking at OOS state schools, and I would not have to pay crazy OOS tuition. But it’s Darwin again, survival of the fittest, and many students will ultimately be denied from competitive schools. Thats what makes them selective, even for in state students. Virginia has many great colleges besides UVA and W&M.</p>

8

<p>Absolutely right Skydancer. And Squiddy is right too, the denial of students from mainstay VA publics is always fodder for journalists (but they are simply telling the stories the public often want to hear).</p>

<p>It’s kind of a fire that feeds itself. The more selective schools become, the more applicants want to apply to them. The more students who apply to the school the more selective that school becomes and so on. It’s just a never-ending process that feeds on itself to make the perceived problems bigger.</p>

<p>In the end, if students enter the college application process with the right mindset (they apply to some safety schools, some reach schools and some in between and they realilze that admission or denial does not equate to self worth) they should find themselves in a good place come April/May with some great options and opportunities. Certainly we feel for those students (both IS and OOS) who we do not admit and we know that there is little we can do to diminish the sting of a deny decision but we also hope they understand that it’s not them, it’s us ([W&M</a> Blogs It’s Not You, It’s Us](<a href=“http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/03/25/its-not-you-its-us/]W&M”>http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/03/25/its-not-you-its-us/))</p>

9

<p>Interesting to see what this is going to do to OOS tuition…</p>

10

<p>Skydancer, I feel the same way as you when I read these sorts of articles as an OOS applicant (and future W&M student, yay!). I’m offended when I believe some articles imply that OOS applicants can only offer money, or are accepted by leniency. We–IS and OOS applicants–ALL work hard in attempt to be accepted into our top choice colleges, but unfortunately some people must be rejected because of universities’ resource limitations. Getting accepted OOS here is difficult enough already! haha. </p>

<p>I understand why there’s frustration from both sides, because it is a difficult situation. I think W&M responded in the best way possible; it seems fair (or at least as fair as possible) to both IS and OOS students. Great job, W&M! I’m proud to be heading to Williamsburg next fall! </p>

<p>Just saying: One article claims that students refer to W&M as “‘University of Pennsylvania-Williamsburg’ to reflect the growing number of students from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.” Come on, the school has a 65/35 IS to OOS ratio. I don’t think the tri-state area by itself is going to consume W&M anytime soon with those statistics! Especially since those statistics are staying in place!</p>

11

<p>plaidskirtkid, please know that those of us within the W&M community very much understand and appreciate all of the resources and qualities that out-of-state students bring to our campus and try to convey that message on all such posts. We are thrilled to be able to have such a wonderfully rich class of both IS and OOS students.</p>

<p>If people are interested in the which states are represented and to what degree, check out page 253 of the Course Catalog (<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/offices/registrar/documents/catalog/UGCatalog.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wm.edu/offices/registrar/documents/catalog/UGCatalog.pdf&lt;/a&gt;). It shouldn’t surprise any that those students from states in close proximity to W&M (PA, MD, NY, NJ, etc) are very well represented but we do strive to attract students from across the country and across the world.</p>

12

<p>Thanks W&M Admission, you are definitely successful in your attempts to show your love of both IS and OOS students! As I said before, I really appreciate the school’s decision compromise to keep the ratio as it is, while increasing its size. In my opinion, it benefits both sides!</p>

13

<p>We do hope that this solution will help ease the tension that’s existed during the past several years. We know that no matter what, students who are not admitted will be upset and will point to lots of perceived faults in the system but we hope this solution will help everyone to understand that we take our status as a VA public very seriously and that we do show deference to VA residents.</p>

14

<p>I wish the decision had been made to stand firm. The state provides so little of the college’s funding, and in-state students contribute a similarly small amount. It is all heavily subsidized by out-of-state students. I’m perfectly fine with out-of-state students paying higher tuition if the state contribution + in-state tuition yield a roughtly similar amount per student. But that doesn’t happen, and it’s not even close. I wish they had mandated a cut to 25% out-of-state, then the state would see what would happen in terms of tuition and financial aid - all at their request. Someone has to pay the bills, and when it comes to colleges, Virginia does not want to pay theirs.</p>

15

<p>Absolutely a heated issue javabytes and we realize everyone has very strong feelings on the matter. While we certainly hope we get to maintain our 65/35 in-state out-of-state ratio we certainly understand the concerns of state officials and VA residents about access to public higher education.</p>