Colorado universities soon could admit more out-of-state students

In exchange for offering financial aid to more in-state students, Colorado universities soon could be allowed to admit more students from out of state who pay almost twice as much in tuition.

Universities such as the University of Colorado have been allowed to admit two out- of-state students for every student they admit who participates in the Colorado Scholars Program. The number of students who can be double-counted has been capped under current law to 8% of instate students in the incoming freshman class.

House Bill 96, which is close to becoming law, would raise that cap to 15% of in-state freshmen in the program. That higher cap would create an incentive to enroll more Colorado Scholars, who can get $2,500 a year or more in merit aid, so that universities also can enroll more high-paying, outof-state students.

State officials and others want Colorado colleges and universities to benefit Colorado students as much as possible, because they get taxpayer support. But lawmakers have cut state funding for schools over the years while allowing tuition hikes. That has led schools to look toward out-ofstate students to bring in more revenue.

At the same time, the rising tuition has made some students rethink whether universities, especially the state’s flagship, are worth the financial burden, or if they can find a better deal elsewhere.

The bill would likely have the biggest impact on CU, which backs the proposal. State law requires that an average of no more than 45% of incoming freshmen at public universities come from out of state, and CU is near that limit.

CU system officials say they would use the increased money from enrolling more out-of-state students to offer Coloradans more merit- and need- based scholarships, and to become more competitive when recruiting instate students — especially with a smaller pool of college-age students.

School officials said the university accepts every qualified Colorado applicant. But many Colorado students never end up on campus, and the school consistently is able to enroll only about 80% of Colorado students who were accepted. Last year, however, was an outlier, with the school enrolling 92% of all Colorado students who were accepted.

Colorado funds its public higher- ed institutions at some of the lowest rates in the nation, leading colleges to raise tuition and recruit more out-of-state students who can pay more. Meanwhile, Colorado families carry high tuition burdens compared with those in other states.

Colorado students pay about $30,000 a year in tuition. Out-ofstate students pay about $57,000.

Across all classes, CU provides $15.5 million in merit aid for about 4,200 students, school officials said in a statement. It also supports about 1,700 students through a need-based program that pays for a student’s share of tuition.

Officials at the school said enrolling more out-of-state students is a way to sustain and increase that aid.

CU system spokesman Ken McConnellogue said in a statement the Boulder campus’ primary focus remains recruiting, retaining and graduating Colorado students.

“We believe this bill will increase affordability and access for those students while also enhancing our ability to keep Colorado’s top students in the state,” he said.

CU isn’t the only f lagship school that has considered how to weigh in-state student enrollment vs. out- of-state enrollment, according to Tom Harnisch, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association vice president for government relations.

Because out- of-state students pay higher tuition, universities around the country have lobbied to lift enrollment caps on them as states’ overall spending on higher education has declined in recent years, he said. This year, for instance, North Carolina increased how many out- of-state students its universities can admit.