THE FAILURE of bill 2506, which would limit out-of-state enrollment at Virginia universities to twenty five percent, ensures that the University itself can decide how many applicants from outside the Commonwealth will be admitted. It does not mean the University will continue to attract the highest caliber of non-Virginian applicants.
It is unlikely that the failure of this bill will lead to any notable increase in out-of-state enrollment. The University currently has a larger percentage of out-of-state students than most comparable public universities.
According to each institution's web page, the University of North Carolina carries 18 percent out-of-state students, the University of California at Berkley admits 12 percent non-Californians and the University of California at Los Angeles has an out-of-state enrollment of only 6.1 percent. Only the University of Michigan approximates the University's enrollment with thirty percent of undergrads hailing from outside Michigan, according to the 1999-2000 Common Data Set.
An out-of-state enrollment larger than one-fourth to one-third is not necessary for the University to remain competitive among public, state-funded universities and colleges. The key to staying at the top of this group is maintaining and building a positive reputation among out-of-state applicants so that out-of-state enrollment is made up of the brightest and best students in the nation. The University has some work to do in this area.
Although the University, according to information provided by the Student Information System, attracted between 101 and 724 students from most of the Eastern states as well as California and Texas, numbers fall below 100, and in many cases below 50 students per state in the West and Mid-west. These numbers indicate a lack of either knowledge about or interest in the University in these regions.
There are several hurdles the University must clear to build and maintain a solid national reputation. One is a lack of familiarity with the University among high school students outside of the Eastern and Southern regions. While the University is ranked highly academically and has a strong reputation among college students and professionals, many high school students in the Mid-west are unfamiliar with the University.
It is difficult to build interest in an area which does not have a large alumni population. However, this ought to be a priority. The Admissions Office's "UVa Visits You" program targets this deficiency by visiting cities in Ohio, Colorado and Oklahoma, among others. Current students and recent alumni from areas which are traditionally under-represented at the University also should take a measure of responsibility for introducing high school students in their hometowns to the University.
While potential applicants can learn of the University's academic excellence through rankings such as U.S. News and World Report, extra-curricular and social opportunities are best represented by the anecdotal evidence of current or recent students.
Another way to quickly reach distant applicants is through the use of technology. The University's website is a valuable source of information for prospective students. Web pages for student groups ranging from Cavalier Daily to Madison House to University Programs Council to Honor also give prospective applicants a glimpse in to life at the University.
Technology could also be put to better use in reaching these prospective students by encouraging them to e-mail current students who would be willing to answer questions about the University, perhaps more frankly than University-employed admission staff. This service is provided through the Admissions homepage.
A second hurdle the University faces in recruiting, particularly in the Mid-west, is its geographic location. Coming to the University from Michigan, I was asked, on multiple occasions, why I would choose to attend school in the South.
Simply by being located south of the Mason-Dixon line, the University faces assumptions of lack of diversity in terms of race, politics and ideology. Although this attitude toward the South is largely antiquated and its application to the University is unfair, it is an obstacle in recruiting students from Mid-western areas. Diversity often is discussed in negative terms at the University. But it is no more a problem here than at any number of schools across the country. In order to recruit top students from across the country, the University must make an effort to honestly represent the wide variety of students who flourish here.
The University's key to remaining top among public colleges is not expanding the number of out-of-state applicants. It is in ensuring that those who do make the decision to attend the University from outside the Commonwealth are the best available, and that the out-of-state applicant pool remains diverse. A nationally competitive out-of-state class, regardless of its size, will help ensure the quality of the University and facilitate the growth of a national reputation.
(Megan Moyer's column usually appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily.)
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