Forty-five of 50 flagship universities, generally regarded as a state’s most influential public university, have decreased the proportion of in-state freshmen they enrolled over the past two decades, according to a new analysis by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
While the reasons may differ somewhat depending on the specifics of each institution, the major reason for the shift is that non-resident students pay much greater tuition than in-staters, even after factoring in the tuition discounts many are provided through institutional financial aid. They are prize recruits for institutions striving to boost their bottom line.
The Chronicle found these twelve flagships enrolled a larger percentage of out-of-state than in-state freshmen in 2022:
- University of Alabama
- University of Arizona
- University of Arkansas
- University of Delaware
- University of Mississippi
- University of New Hampshire
- University of North Dakota
- University of Oregon
- University of Rhode Island
- University of Vermont
- University of Wisconsin
- West Virginia University
At all but four of those 12 institutions (University of Delaware, University of North Dakota, University of Rhode Island and the University of Vermont), the greater percentage of non-resident freshmen enrolled represents a reversal from their pattern in 2002, when the majority of freshman came from in-state.
While it’s true that at about three-quarters of the states the majority of the flagship’s new freshmen still come from within the state, it’s also clear, as The Chronicle analysis shows, “the share of students attending flagships in their home state is declining.”
Not only are the shifts away from resident freshmen numerous, several are very large in magnitude. Conversely, very few flagships increased their share of in-state freshmen, and those increases tended to be small.
- At the University of Alabama, for example, 76.5% of the freshman class in 2002 was made up of in-state residents; by 2022, that proportion dropped to 34.9% — a 42-percentage point slide.
- The University of Arkansas saw its percentage of in-state freshmen decline from 80.5% in 2002 to 39.3% in 2022, a drop of 41%
- More than one in five of the flagships saw declines of 20 percentage points or more in the share of in-state freshmen they enrolled over the past two decades.
- Only four universities increased the percentage of in-staters in their freshmen class – the University of Maryland (College Park) with an increased share of 7.1%, the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) with a 2.2% increase, the University of Nevada (Reno) with a 7.1% increase , and the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) withy a 1.3% increase.
What a recent report by the Brookings Institution called “the great student swap” has increased the amount of tuition collected by flagship universities by billions of dollars over the years, but it’s come with a cost that’s harder to quantify.
A major purpose of a public flagship is to provide a high-quality, comprehensive university that’s affordable for a state’s best students. That’s a main reason why states continue to appropriate hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize them each year.
As public universities chase after those out-of-state tuition dollars, however, they run the risk of upending an implicit bargain citizens have struck with them. Taxpayers have been willing to help pay for a public university’s research activities, they’ve been willing to help support small graduate programs, and they’ve helped underwrite many of the nonacademic services large universities provide.
But those taxpayers have wanted one sure thing in return – a first-rate university near home where their kids have a good chance to attend and earn an undergraduate degree. That’s a deal the flagships should think long and hard about protecting.