US: Out-of-state students to boost California revenue

University of California, Los Angeles, sophomore Ying Chen could have stayed at home in New Jersey for college. Instead she travelled cross-country, where she willingly pays about $20,000 a year more for her education than most of her classmates, writes Larry Gordon in the Los Angeles Times. Some university officials think increasing the number of students like Chen would be a smart way for the university system to bring in more revenue at a time when the state budget is tight.


They point to other state university systems that enrol much higher percentages of out-of-state students. But opponents of the idea warn that it could squeeze out qualified California students.

At UC campuses, in-state freshmen pay about $8,100 in fees, not including room, board or books. Because California does not provide funding for out-of-state students, about half of the extra $20,000 they pay each year covers UC's costs and the other half is profit for the system, officials said.

David Shulenburger, vice president for academic affairs at the National Assn. of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges in Washington, D.C., said he expects more public universities across the country "as a matter of survivability" to at least consider additional recruiting outside their states. The premium tuition for out-of-state students helps schools afford basic functions and subsidize in-state students' fees, he said.

About 10% of UC's 220,000 students, including those in undergraduate and graduate programs, are from outside California. But only about 6% of the undergraduates are non-Californians.

Full LA Times report