Like most elected officials in Northern Virginia, Del. Tim Hugo (R-40) expects to hear a lot of gripes from his constituents about local transportation woes.

But in late summer, as Hugo was beginning to focus on his fall re-election campaign, the delegate said one issue was starting to rival transportation as a top concern of constituents.

Local residents were increasingly worried, and agitated, about how difficult it has become for some of the area’s most accomplished students to attend Virginia’s highest-ranked universities, said Hugo.

“This is a real problem. I hear about it at almost every meeting and event I attend,” said the delegate in late August.

As Nov. 3 election approaches, many locals running for positions in the Virginia House of Delegates have raised the issue.

Jim Hyland, who is campaigning for an open delegate seat, said he hears about the issue from many people when he campaigns door-to-door in the Vienna and Oakton area.

“People talk to me about it and not just parents of kids in high school. Residents with small children, who are still in grade school, bring it up. They think ‘If it this hard to get into those schools now, what is it going to be like in the future?’” said Hyland.



PARENTS, and some candidates for office, believe public colleges and universities could boost the number of slots available for Northern Virginia students at the undergraduate level by accepting fewer out-of-state students.

Virginia residents made up 68 percent of the freshman class at U-Va., 65 percent of the freshman class at William and Mary, 70.3 percent of freshman class at James Madison and 73 percent of the freshman class at Virginia Tech in the 2008-2009 school year.

During the Virginia General Assembly session, a few local legislators introduced bills to try to mandate a higher percentage of in-state students in response to complaints.

For example, Hugo introduced a bill, with the support of Del. Dave Albo (R-42) and state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-37), that would have required most schools to accept at least 75 percent of their incoming freshman from Virginia. But the bill died in the House of Delegates appropriations committee.

At least one other state, Wisconsin, has a similar mandate in place. No Wisconsin public university or college is allowed to draw more than 25 percent of its student body from out-of-state. But there are some exceptions to the rule.

For example, students from Minnesota – which make up approximately 10 percent of the student body at the University of Wisconsin at Madison – do not count as out-of-state students for the purpose of the 25 percent cap. As part of a special agreement, residents of Minnesota and Wisconsin are allowed to attend each other’s public universities and colleges at only a slightly higher cost than in-state students.



CRITICS of Hugo’s approach are sympathetic to well-qualified students, particularly in Northern Virginia, that do not get accepted to the public college or university of their choice.

But overall, Virginia residents make up an overwhelming number, 81 percent, of the undergraduate students enrolled in all of the commonwealth’s public universities and colleges, said Del. Tom Rust, who is chair of the House of Delegates subcommittee on higher education. Rust, who represents Herndon and Sterling, also served on the governing boards at Virginia Tech and Longwood University.

When Northern Virginia residents complain about the number of out-of-state students admitted to Virginia schools, they are really focusing on a few highly competitive programs.

“We have a number of strong programs in Virginia. I think we need to focus on all of our schools,” said Del. Jim Scott (D-53), in a recent debate.

Rust added that the universities and colleges have been told by the House of Delegates that they should try to reach a goal of enrolling at least 70 percent of their students from Virginia. And only three institutions – U-Va., William and Mary and James Madison – seem to have problems reaching that threshold regularly, he said.

According to Rust, those schools that were enrolling lower percentages of Virginians appeared to be making an effort to fix the problem. For example, William and Mary, who had enrolled just 60 percent of its freshman class from Virginia just a few years ago, now was up to about 65 percent.

“They have gotten the message pretty strong that we are concerned about the amount of out-of-state students attending their schools. … These things have to happen incrementally over time,” said Rust.



STILL, Virginia colleges and universities are accepting a lower percentage of in-state students than many of the other top ranked public universities in the country.

The University of California at Berkeley, which was named the top public school in the country by U.S. News and World Report this year, has an in-state acceptance rate of 85 percent. The University of California at Los Angeles, the second highest ranked public university in the same listing, took approximately 90 percent of its freshman class from its home state last year.

There are a few schools regarded highly by U.S. News and World Report with lower rates of in-state enrollment than U-Va. – which ranked third on the magazine’s list – and William and Mary – which ranked sixth.

The University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus, which ranked fourth, enrolled 66 percent of its students from in-state, a few percentage points less than U-Va. though higher than William and Mary. Georgia Tech and Wisconsin’s Madison campus, which fell just behind William and Mary on the public school rankings, only enroll 60 percent of their students from their home states.



VIRGINIA COLLEGE and university officials said they are forced to enroll more students from out-of-state than they would like because they make up for Virginia’s state funding cuts to the higher education in recent years.

Schools like U-Va.. and William & Mary also don’t seem to be alone in taking this approach. The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that leadership at California’s Berkeley campus would be increasing the percentage of out-of-state students at the school from approximately 15 to 22 percent in order to cope with their cuts in state funding in California.

According to the article in the California newspaper, the change would result in approximately 600 fewer slots in the freshman class for California residents.

The in-state cost of attending Virginia’s highest-profile college program is similar to that of well-regarded programs in California. Tuition for a freshman entering U-Va.. is $9,870 compared to $9,748 at the Berkeley campus.

Out-of-state tuition is also similar at both schools, with freshman from other states paying $31,870 to attend U-Va. and $32,470 to attend Berkeley, according to both school Web sites.

About 10 years ago, U-Va. received over 20 percent of funding for its operating budget from Virginia. Now, the amount of funding the General Assembly allocates to the university covers just about eight percent of its operating costs, according to Daniel Abramson, a member of U-Va.’s Board of Visitors, the school’s to governing body.

William & Mary have undergone a similar experience, according to statements made by college officials. Thirty years ago, the public school had approximately 45 percent of its budget covered by the state. Now, William & Mary receives approximately 16 percent of their budget from Virginia.

According to Virginia budget documents, Hugo’s bill – which would have reduced the amount of money that colleges and universities could bring in through out-of-state tuition – would have forced either the state or higher education institutions to absorb an approximately $60 million shortfall.

If Hugo’s 25 percent cap on out-of-state students was mandated, colleges and universities would mostly have to dramatically raise in-state tuition to make up the difference in funding.

Del. Margi Vanderhye (D-34) said in a recent debate, she said she was concerned about the impact that such a cap would have on college affordability for in-state students, since it would not only drive up tuition but could also impact the amount of financial aid universities and colleges have to offer.

University and college officials said it is not possible just to raise money on out-of-state students to make up the difference in funding, as some people have suggested. Out-of-state tuition at many schools has reached the “tipping point,” where a significantly higher rate would make the Virginia schools cost prohibitive and less competitive nationwide, they said.

Instead, Rust, Vanderhye and others suggest the Virginia General Assembly increase their allocation to public colleges, so that the amount of Virginia residents attending those schools can remain high while keeping tuition low.



VIRGINIA’S HIGHER EDUCATION has been among the parts of the state budget most severely impacted by this year’s downturn in the economy and state revenue. Every public college and university saw a 15 percent decrease in the amount of public funding they received from the state this year. At Virginia Tech alone, that amounted to a $175 million drop, said Rust.

“Higher education had taken as big of a cut as anyone has had to take in terms of the budget,” he added.

Ideally, the General Assembly would like to cover approximately 67 percent of the costs of tuition for in-state students. The most recent calculations show that the state government is only covering about 62 percent of the tuition for in-state students now and that percentage has probably dropped, since it was calculated before the governor announced he most recent budget cuts.

It is difficult to tell whether other states with well regarded higher education systems contribute more or less to their university and colleges. For example, California — which has the largest number of highly ranked state schools in the country — contributed approximately $3 billion to the $19 billion cost of operating all the University of California campuses, or about 15.7 percent of the university system’s overall budget. But according to budget documents, state funding only covers about 58 percent of the cost of educating an in-state student in that system.