Good question. I’m sure many parents of college-bound seniors would love to know the same thing. As far as I can tell, the main reason it costs more to attend college out of state is to encourage local talent to attend their home school.

An article from USA Today mentions that “about 80% of college-bound high school graduates stay in their home states for college, attending either the flagship or regional campuses, and more than half who do cross borders attend a private university.”

The article goes to explain that of those who leave their home state for college, an increasing number are choosing to attend public schools. The public college with the highest number of out-of-state students is the University of Vermont with 72.7% out-of-staters. The school with the lowest percentage is Illinois State with 0.9%.

In the end, the admissions game comes down to walking the fine line between honoring home state residents (and the taxes they’ve already paid) and promoting diversity.

Mike

When you go to an out of state school, you aren’t contributing to the state’s tax base (and haven’t been previously) so they jack the tuition up on you to make up the difference.

So, the state provides a reduced costs to people who help their education system. All others have to pay that premium to offset what residents are covering.