Next month, the Arizona Board of Regents will vote on whether to permanently raise the out-of-state student population cap to 40 percent at all three state universities.
Two years ago, the board voted to temporarily raise the cap from 30 percent to 40 percent. In February, ABOR will vote whether to make the 40 percent cap permanent.
Kent Hopkins, the vice provost for enrollment management at ASU, said an out-of-state population creates an environment of geographic diversity.
“If we look at our diversity both geographically and ethnically, it’s building upon ASU President Michael Crow’s vision of a New American University,” Hopkins said.
However, the concept of geographic diversity is not the only reason behind the push for out-of-state students. Out-of-state students pay higher tuition than in-state students, which brings in more revenue for the university, Arizona Board of Regents member Dennis DeConcini said.
The current tuition per semester for a full-time resident incoming freshman is $3,897 without additional fees. Out-of-state students pay more than double that at $10,129.
Tuition might increase next year as a result of Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposed state budget, which would cut about $80 million of state funding from ASU.
Though out-of-state students pay more than Arizona residents, for some, ASU is a better value than other schools.
Piano performance junior Bora Kim, an international student from South Korea, said she chose ASU because it was cheaper than schools in New York and California.
According to diversity enrollment data on ASU’s website, enrollment of out-of-state students increased by 39.4 percent between 2002 and 2009. In 2009, the total percentage of nonresident students was 26 percent.
“I chose to go to ASU because it’s the perfect distance from home where I could drive back if I wanted to [and] fly back in an hour if I wanted to also,” said marketing senior Sean McCarthy, who is from California. “It’s that perfect in-between.”
The ASU administration is also hopeful that out-of-state students will stay in Arizona after they graduate to strengthen the economy, Hopkins said.
“I would think that a number of students who come here from California, or from India, have the opportunity to stay here and be productive citizens in the state of Arizona,” Hopkins said.
While the University of Southern California has the most ethnically diverse campus in the U.S., Hopkins said ASU has a much higher degree of geographic diversity, meaning that students at ASU come from all different locations and experiences.
Approximately 90 percent of students at UC Berkley, UC San Diego and UCLA are in-state students, according to minutes from a November UC board meeting.
California also hopes to increase its number of out-of-state students in response to similarly devastating budget cuts.
Hopkins said ASU has established itself academically, drawing out-of-state students to top-rated schools like the W.P. Carey School of Business and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“I’m in business, and the business school is close to the top, so I think I made a pretty good choice,” business sophomore Andrew Miller said.
ASU has received criticism because it accepts a high percentage of applicants. According to U.S. News and World Report, ASU accepted 90 percent of 2009 fall applicants.
But Hopkins said this high acceptance rate is part of fulfilling Crow’s vision of a New American University.
“Our mission is who we include, not who we exclude,” Hopkins said, citing a common phrase used in ASU’s New American University campaign.
Reach the reporter at hhuskins@asu.edu
