The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors started lobbying lawmakers in Richmond this week. The board is pushing for a host of legislative efforts. Its 2014 legislative program, which it approved this fall, takes stances on everything from infrastructure (the state should put more money toward road construction) to government corruption (make misuse of public funds a felony).
Loudoun is a powerful county. It carries the distinction of being the highest-income county in the U.S. The median household income is $119,134, according to 2011 Census Bureau data.
One legislative item for which Loudoun’s board of supervisors is lobbying promises to be of special interest to University students. The board wants the commonwealth to cap out-of-state undergraduate enrollment at Virginia’s public universities at 25 percent. The board is also calling for laws that would enforce the enrollment ratio by imposing financial penalties on the universities that do not comply.
The proposal to reduce the number of out-of-state students at Virginia’s public schools is financially unrealistic. It would also reduce the quality of student life at these schools. And, above all, the proposal betrays a sense of entitlement about college admissions that some Northern Virginians seem to feel.
Loudoun County’s officials are not the first to urge Virginia lawmakers to expand in-state access to public universities by mandating a cap on out-of-state enrollment. The University of Virginia, where about one-third of undergraduates hail from outside the commonwealth, occupies a central role in such debates. The University is caught between conflicting aspirations: on the one hand, its commitment to being a school for the public, and on the other hand its commitment to being one of the top institutions in the world.
The term “public Ivy” is not a flat-out contradiction. But any school that seeks to earn the “public Ivy” moniker faces a tension between access and quality. When it comes to colleges today, selectivity is a measure of worth.
We sympathize with the frustration students (and their parents) feel when they do not win admission to a university that their tax dollars help support. This frustration must be especially severe when an applicant seems strong but fails to get an acceptance letter from one of Virginia’s premier public institutions.
But many Virginians — particularly students and parents from Northern Virginia — want to have it both ways, especially when it comes to the University. They want Virginia’s flagship school to retain its status as a top university. But they also want their children to win admission. The better the University is, however, the more selective it can afford to be.
What’s concerning about pushes to limit out-of-state enrollment is the sense of entitlement that such measures convey. A certain GPA does not entitle an applicant to automatic access to one of the top schools in the country. Initiatives such as Loudoun’s seem like a way for parents to convince themselves that the University rejected their sons and daughters because out-of-state students took their spots — not because their children’s applications were insufficiently strong.
Out-of-state students are convenient scapegoats for frustrated applicants and the parents who hover over their shoulders. But these same students add to the University in many ways. First, out-of-state students enrich life on Grounds by increasing the diversity of backgrounds and worldviews present in the school’s intellectual and social atmosphere. This is especially true of international students. Second, out-of-state students are generally quite strong academically, because it is more competitive for out-of-state students to win admission. In effect, out-of-state students have to meet higher standards in terms of test scores and academic record in order to be competitive applicants. And finally, out-of-state students pay nearly four times more in tuition and fees. If state lawmakers were to follow the Loudoun board’s recommendation and introduce a bill mandating the University to cut out-of-state enrollment to 25 percent, they’d better be prepared to pick up the check.
Read More
KURTZWEIL: True financial aid must be transparent
By Paul Kurtzweil | 3 days agoThe implications and revelations of the lawsuit should inspire greater transparency at the University in order to ensure that financial aid is properly and equitably distributed.
SULLIVAN: Ramp up physical accessibility on Grounds
By Scarlett Sullivan | 5 days agoThe University must take responsibility for the inaccessibility of Grounds and work to promote accessibility for all students despite misguided laws.
EDITORIAL: Scapegoating students will not stop hazing
By Editorial Board | April 25, 2024Instead of retroactively responding to extreme hazing allegations, we, and especially the University, must begin asking more probing questions about the role of fraternal organizations on Grounds.
