I know we want our state colleges and universities to have better reputations and standards. I know they can be tools for economic development. But does this seem the right way to do it?
Students who might easily have made it into Indiana's public a few years ago are receiving rejection letters due to changing admissions standards.
Some students and high school advisers are questioning whether the bar is being selectively raised to attract out-of-state students at the expense of Indiana students whom the colleges were intended to serve.
One-third of this year's 60,548 undergraduate students at Indiana University in Bloomington and Purdue University in West Lafayette are from outside the state. Ball State University also plans on increasing its out-of-state recruiting efforts this year.
[. . . ]
Recruiting out-of-state students is one way to increase the number of talented students on campus, which can lead to high academic rankings, research money and an enhanced reputation. Out-of-state students also pay more tuition than in-state students.
And they receive more financial aid, The Indianapolis Star reported Monday. Seventy percent of the $35 million in university grant aid IU-Bloomington gave out in 2005 went to out-of-state students.
At the risk of sounding parochial, Hoosier legislators should point out that our institutions of higher learning are part of the state's obligation to Indiana students. Let's take care of our own first, then worry about those from other states.
