Push for in-state students

Some high school students graduating at the top of their class are not getting into the Virginia public college or university of their choice.

For years, state lawmakers have served as sounding boards for frustrated parents.

Now, several lawmakers are trying to make public colleges and universities accessible to more Virginia students by requiring them to admit at least 70 percent of their undergraduates from in-state.

"Taxpayers of Virginia for 200 years have been paying taxes to build these schools," said Del. Clifford L. Athey Jr., R-Warren. He wants to require public colleges and universities to admit at least 70 percent of their undergraduates from within Virginia starting with the 2010 freshman class, or forgo state funds.

"They paid for them mainly because they wanted their children to be able to go there," Athey said.

Lawmakers say bright students from around the state are being passed over, while students from other states find Virginia's schools a bargain.

Del. Timothy D. Hugo, R-Fairfax, is pushing for a 75 percent in-state student requirement. Under his legislation, the state's public schools would have to make up any money lost as a result by increasing out-of-state tuition rates.

"What I am seeing is the University of New Jersey Charlottesville campus and the University of New York Williamsburg campus, and I just think that has to stop," Hugo said.

Virginia Military Institute, Norfolk State University and Virginia State University would be exempt from the Athey and Hugo bills. Those schools would be "negatively affected in a very big way given the out-of-state scholarships that come their direction," said Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William.

School officials argue that decreasing the number of out-of-state students affects schools' budgets as the schools are dealing with a drop in state support. Decreasing the number of out-of-state students is a further revenue loss, said Daniel LaVista, executive director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Two top-ranked public schools that often are termed "Public Ivies," the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary, would be most affected by the change. At U.Va., each 1 percent drop in the number of out-of-state undergraduates would cost the university about $3 million, LaVista said.

The 31 percent of out-of-state undergraduates there account for 63 percent of the school's tuition revenue, said Carol Wood, a U.Va spokeswoman.

SCHEV reports a slightly different figure of 33 percent for U.Va., based on fall 2008 figures. The school has relied more on tuition revenue as the state's share of U.Va.'s operating budget dropped from 13.8 percent in 2000 to 8.2 percent this academic year.

If W&M were required to increase the number of its in-state students from the current 68 percent to 75 percent, it would cost the college about $7.5 million, spokesman Brian Whitson said. That figure is based on the additional 399 students who would pay in-state instead of out-of-state tuition.

But beyond the financial impact, Whitson said, out-of-state students contribute to the "intellectual liveliness" of the campus. W&M opposes all three bills and supports the General Assembly's current guidelines that call for 65 percent of students be from in-state.

"It sounds like a bad idea," said Brian Collamer, an 18-year-old freshman from Hanover, Pa., who is majoring in engineering at Virginia Tech. "It's another way to restrict certain people, and it makes it unfair, especially if you have ties to the school in some way."

He questioned what good it would do schools such as Tech to develop national reputations in specific areas if they can't use those reputations to lure students from outside Virginia.

But the echoes of frustrated students and parents have lawmakers wanting to take action.

"Something's messed up; something's wrong," Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, told the House Education Committee yesterday.

He's suggesting that schools with less than 75 percent of their undergraduates from in-state charge the out-of-state rate for students who take more than four years and who have attended 110 percent of the credit hours needed to graduate.

Under his bill, any revenue and space generated by the change would be allocated to in-state students under his bill.

Athey, in addition to pushing for the 70 percent requirement, wants at least 80 percent of schools' transfer students to be from in-state. His bills are scheduled to come back before the House Education Committee this week, as is Hugo's.

Athey's 70 percent requirement would cost the cash-strapped state about $5.9 million starting in 2010-11, according to a fiscal-impact statement.

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or .

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis @timesdispatch.com.

Staff writers Rex Bowman and Carlos Santos contributed to this report.