People pick an OOS Public because:
-They like the school better
-The students wants a break from their state, & wants a new state in orfer to learn to adapt,etc.
-The OOS school has a better environment for them(urban or rural)
-The OOS school is better for their major/better academically
-The OOS school has a bigger/smaller campus
-The OOS school is bigger on sports &/or greek life
-In-State didn’t give them good financial aid
-Their state is very limited in the amount of public schools/schools
-They really hate being in-state for some reason, & would rather risk value for a more preferable school for themselves
-Some in-state publics aren’t that great
Overall In-State Publics are still cheaper though.
On average, & In-State Public will cost around $10K, while an OOS will cost around $23K, while a private school will cost around $32K.
In some situations the OOS is a better value, in other situations it doesn’t.
I know people that are paying the same for OOS whereas others are paying the full OOS price.
I’ll show you 3 examples
- An NJ student gets accepted to Stockton & West Carolina University. The prices are around the same & she prefers NC. She chooses WCU. In this situation WCU would be the better pick.
- An NJ student gets accepted to Rutgers NB & George Mason. He gets no merit aid from both. Rutgers is $30K while GMU is $40K. He chooses GMU. In this situation the In-State would be better, although the OOS is not to far off.
- An NJ student gets a small amount of aid from publics & a large amount of aid from privates.
Rutgers Newark-$17.5K
OOS Public-$32K
Hofstra-$35K
Other Privates-$36K-$30K
In this situation the In-State would be better, as he would be paying nearly twice the amount for the other schools.
Public costs vary on location, as more expensive publics will be in locations where salaries are higher, & vice versa.
Whether an In State or OOS is a better value depends on where the student is at the school’s average grades, financial aid, & overall ranking.