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House debates in-state University enrollment

Assembly subcommittee rejects most recent attempt to decrease out-of-state student percentage

Four bills that would have limited the percentage of out-of-state students admitted to Virginia state colleges and universities were tabled by a House of Delegates subcommittee Monday.

These proposals would have mandated state colleges and universities to admit a somewhat higher percentage of in-state students. One of the bills, for example, would have required the University to enroll in-state residents for 75 percent of the incoming class, rather than the current 70 percent. The College of William & Mary, James Madison University and Virginia Tech also would have been affected by the change, but Norfolk State University, Virginia State University and Virginia Military Institute would have been exempted.

Del. Timothy Hugo, R-Fairfax County, sponsored one of the four bills and said he was mainly concerned that out-of-state and international students are leaving less room for Virginia residents to be admitted to the state's universities.

University alumnus and Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax County, said the bill simply would make it more expensive for out-of-state students to attend these universities.

"My constituents can't get into U.Va. anymore," Albo said. "The students in my district have 4.0 GPAs, 1300 SATs, and they can't get into U.Va. And the reason they can't get into U.Va. is because there's not enough space ... I am sure the international students won't like it; I am sure the [out-of-state] students won't like it, but I am not elected to represent them."

Admissions Dean Greg Roberts, however, said it is important not to lower the percentage of out-of-state students admitted to the University.

"These types of bills come before [the] legislature every year," Roberts said. "And I know there is a lot of anxiety regarding college admission, but we oppose these bills."

The proposals would create a "quota" and thus damage the holistic application review process of the University's admissions office, which takes into account personal situations, economic hardships and other factors, he said. Moreover, the University believes in a strong out-of-state and international population that diversifies perspectives, beliefs and ideas, he added. In addition, the admission of out-of-state students is simply good for the University's finances, he said.

Out-of-state students "subsidize the cost of attendance for in-state students," Roberts said. "The state of Virginia has reduced spending on higher education in recent years. Without our current blend of out-of-state students, there would be a budget shortfall that could impact operations at the University."

Nevertheless, Roberts said the University is first and foremost "a public institution" that is proud to have many strong Virginia students.

Politics Prof. Larry Sabato said he is personally very opposed to lowering the limit for out-of-state student admission.

"Dave Albo is a fine legislator, a U.Va. alumnus and a former student of mine. He is understandably representing the strong sentiments of his constituents in Northern Virginia," Sabato said. "But as someone who was an in-state undergrad at U.Va. and on the U.Va. faculty now for 32 years, I am unalterably opposed to any limitation on out-of-state students."

Sabato added that he believes out-of-state students benefit the University community in more ways than one.

"Out-of-state students have, on average, the highest board scores and they greatly enrich the in-state students' peer education," he noted. "Moreover, many of these superb out-of-state students settle in Virginia, contributing to the state's future prosperity, and they are disproportionately the most generous donors to the University as alumni. If I had my way, we'd take more, not fewer, of them."\nFirst-year College student Hilary Jensen expressed similar sentiments.

"A school with more in-state students would definitely be less vibrant than the diverse community U.Va. currently has," she said.

A more appropriate means of increasing diversity, first-year College student Katie Urban said, may be to admit more students from more heavily populated regions of Virginia.

The House still should give the bill more consideration in the future, Jensen added.

"I think it's good for now that the bill got [tabled]," she said. "If it comes up again ... modifications can be made to it and compromise can be reached."

-Radina Belberova contributed to this article

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