I have lived in the Commonwealth of Virginia for some 40 years now.  And, over the past decade, the educational budget has been cut and cut and cut.  Oh, it’s not just the Commonwealth.  Michigan, California, New York… I could go on. Overall, our 50 states have averaged a 23% drop in funding from the Great Recession through 2013- and the precipitous drop is only accelerating.  It used to be that these states all provided outstanding college education and experiences to the students of their states.  But, not anymore.

Of course, this has meant that tuition and fees have been rising.  Setting the bar for the middle and lower class students probably just a little too high for comfort- especially since financial aid has dropped even more than the state funding of the institutions has dropped.

So, back when I first moved to the Commonwealth, I knew that competition to attend UVa was tight.  So tight, that many students from Northern Virginia knew that getting to UVa was about as easy (ok, maybe even tougher) than their chances to attend Harvard.  (No, I am NOT equating the two schools.)

And, since the Great Recession, these state institutions have been doing something that runs counter to the concept of ‘state institutions’.  They have decided to make it easier for non-residents to matriculate than those who want to attend from their own state.  Because tuition from out-of-state students is 3, 4, or 5 times the in-state rate, and those funds go a long way to closing the schools’ budget gaps.

When my son went to the University of Michigan, tuition and fees ran some $ 53K for out-of-state students.  As opposed to some 14K for state residents.  And, Michigan was one of the hard-hit states during that time, so they opted for higher and higher percentages of out-of-staters.

You can tell me that this is great for accomplishing diversity, augmenting points of view, etc.  Except that the residents of the various states are being shortchanged.  Making it tougher for their children to garner the great education one hoped at reduced tuition (for in-state residents).  And, the schools are now even hiring recruiters to augment those out-of-state students and their greater tuition rates.

So, this “off-year” election, almost all of you have vital state races to consider.  And, you should consider which nominee will make it easier for state residents to attend colleges in-state.  Saving your children and the children of your neighbors tons of money.

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