4. Prioritize the recruitment and enrollment of in-state students

Recruitment 09.20.24

Here’s what the federal government can do:

  • The U.S. Department of Education should collect, conduct, and disseminate data on the share of in-state students by institution type (private, public, and community college).

Here’s what state government can do:

  • Governors and state legislatures should set in-state student enrollment goals at all four-year institutions, mirroring the state’s racial and ethnic demographics among 18- to 24-year-olds.
  • State legislatures should adequately fund higher education institutions and discourage recruitment of out-of-state students for the purposes of increased revenue.
  • States should provide more funding to higher education institutions that enroll high proportions of in-state students.

Here’s what institutional leaders can do:

  • All higher education institutions should set goals and metrics to recruit and increase the enrollment of in-state students.

Policymakers should break the cycle of higher education institutions relying on out-of-state funding and equitably fund institutions enrolling high proportions of in-state students.

Out-of-state students usually pay two to three times more than in-state students to attend an institution of higher education. For this reason, many colleges and universities, including private and public institutions, recruit large numbers of out-of-state students from wealthier high schools to generate revenue.[i]</a Although the majority of first-year classes at state flagship systems are in-state students, the share of in-state students attending flagships has declined since 2002.[ii]</a Research suggests that nearly every state flagship university increased its share of out-of-state students from 2002 to 2018. [iii]

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