In-state students' admission obstacle: their home address
In past years public colleges and universities have been known to accept a large portion of in-state applicants. Schools like William & Mary, University of Virginia, University of Maryland, as well as other large public schools have commonly been considered schools that are easier to get into when applying as a resident of the state. However, recently, this trend has been changing. Students with exceptionally high grade point averages and SAT scores no longer are a shoe in to state schools, as they were just a few years back. The question is why is this happening?
This new trend is predominately due to the recession. This past year the recession has resulted in many budget cuts and less funding for many schools. In general schools need money. Out of state students pay more to attend these colleges and universities than do in-state students; therefore, schools are looking for any way to scrounge up extra money and this is easily done by accepting out of state students at higher numbers.
On specific example is at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, which accepted more non-Virginians than Virginians, there has been a decrease from a 47 percent chance of in-state acceptance to 39 percents chance of in-state acceptance in just four years. Similarly, University of Maryland has resorted to the same methods as William & Mary because in-state tuition has remained constant, yet out of state tuition continues to rise. Currently, the school costs $8,053 for residents and $23,990 for non-residents. Consequently, by accepting more out of state students, schools are attempting to receive any extra money they can even though it will just constitute a miniscule portion of the millions of dollars that are being cut from their funding.
The California State University received $584 million less in budgets this past year. As a result, schools are forced to cut spending in areas such as student service, hours of operation, and were even forced to not fill certain staff and faculty positions. Evidently, students are paying more and yet receiving less. At CSU, the library received an $800,000 budget cut this past year. If things continue as they are currently, the future of many universities looks bleak and questionable. With all of these changes and cuts, class sizes are increasing, which brings up many other problems for many students, parents, and staff.
All of this has seemed to stir up a lot of anger and frustration in parents and state residents. In Virginia, law and policymakers are attempting to pass a law making it mandatory for Virginia Public universities and colleges to accept 70 percent of their undergraduates from in state. It is being argued that Virginia residents pay taxes that go into the funding and help build up these schools, often times in hopes that their children will one day attend one of these schools, only now to find that their chances of doing so are dwindling.
Public universities and colleges all over the country are fighting for more funding and are dealing with the cuts the best they can. For the most part, schools are resorting to accepting students at higher numbers and are looking to out of state students. However, with the increase of the student body there is less staff and quality faculty support for the students. More and more academic programs are being forced to stop. So what is next? When will this all come to a halt? Or better yet, when will this all turn around?
More importantly, what are the best actions for schools to take? Is it really fair to force schools to accept 70 percent of in-state applicant when this would cause even greater suffrage from budget cuts? Would such a law cause student’s quality of education and faculty to decrease drastically? What will the future of these schools look like?
Video:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4638277n
Related Articles:
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/education/article/EDUC03_20090202-221821/196408/
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/altss/printstory/frontpage/109940
http://www.theorion.com/online-exclusives/budget-cuts-continue-to-affect-student-services-1.859106
No comments:
Post a Comment