re: Why does University of Alabama have so many out of state students?

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Bama gave them more money than Arkansas did, fact.

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Good for Bama and good for those students. There are many different reasons for the students going here. The 11-20% students from these other surrounding big states, for example. But several UA programs are highly ranked - communications, fashion design, law, etc.

The administration has made a concerted push to recruit OOSSs, too. They pay the cost of attendance at a time when the legislature requires the university to give ISSs a discount, but fails to provide financial compensation for that discount.

Word of mouth is a huge factor, too. Current UA students and alums love the school and talk positively of their experience here. A college intern program manager from a major employer in Florida told my wife that they have the interns complete surveys at the conclusion of the program. One of the factors they are surveyed about is their opinion of their own university. She said that, hands down, for the past decade, UA students have given positive ratings of their school that far out pace any other school they get students from. So much so, in fact, that when her own daughter was looking for a school, she insisted that she at least look at UA. When they got to campus, she said she looked at her husband and said, "oh, shite, we're going to be paying out-of-state tuition" because the place made that big of an impact on them from the minute they stepped foot on campus.

That's just one story. Everyone's experience is different. There's no denying that athletics is a MAJOR factor. Good. That's part of the reason to have a team.

Perhaps the real question here is why the states losing students to UA aren't working harder to stop losing. Part of what drove UA to get more aggressive in student recruitment was the fact that we were losing a certain strata of students to schools like Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.

The end result is something of a "snowball" effect. More students means more money, which the university has used to lure faculty/staff and give raises - at a time when other schools are laying them off. That leads to increased dissatisfaction at the other schools - long lines, crowded classes, etc. - and gives UA a competitive edge.

Honestly, among the 10+ pages of opinions and ridiculous argument, there are a few arguments that really make sense.

1) Yes, the Hope Scholarship in Georgia/Top 10% in Texas rules do play a factor. Does it help the University? Hell Yeah! Those private schools in Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston that produce smart kids from affluent families are now bringing their talents and pocket books to Tuscaloosa? Come on the hell down.

2) Football has something do to with it--albeit, it's probably just the opening sales pitch. Yeah, we kick arse at the sport that dominates popularity in Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee. Who doesn't want to associate themselves with a winner? However, no idiot is gonna go JUST because the football team is good. They probably watch the games, see the beautiful girls, great tailgating, shots of the humongous fraternity and sorority houses, as well as the rest of campus and think, "shite, that looks nice too!" Then the parents get on computers, see that UA is well within the top-100 on USNWR, see their business, law, and nursing rankings, and actually take the school into consideration.

3) If you were an OOS student like me, again, I reiterate how important it was that the school was diverse in its student body. I loved the fact I wasn't going to walk into Hoover High School's 13th grade, freshman year. My pledge class had around 10 kids from Atlanta, 10 from Nashville, 2 from Charlotte, and a handful from Dallas and Houston. It was, and is, still fricking awesome.

For the record, I think that will be the hardest thing LSU will have to overcome; Louisiana residents LOVE Louisiana, and LSU in particular, more than any other state in the country. State pride is tremendous down there. I knew a girl from BR in college who was almost shunned by her family for wanting to "get out of Louisiana" for 4 whole years and go to Alabama. That's retarded. Alabama and Ole Miss don't care if you're from the North Pole.

4) Having a diverse network matters!

I'm sorry, but I love the fact that when Alabama plays these neutral site games, the local alumni chapter of Atlanta & Dallas have literally thousands of members setting up shop for the tailgate parties and weekend events. Outside of football, I was interviewed by a guy in Charlotte for a job, who got his MBA at Alabama in the late 1990's--it's an important connection to have, and, can be the deciding point in perhaps getting a job. If two guys are the same on paper, and one went to your Alma Mater, who the hell are you gonna pick?

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The administration has made a concerted push to recruit OOSSs, too. They pay the cost of attendance at a time when the legislature requires the university to give ISSs a discount, but fails to provide financial compensation for that discount.

Word of mouth is a huge factor, too. Current UA students and alums love the school and talk positively of their experience here. A college intern program manager from a major employer in Florida told my wife that they have the interns complete surveys at the conclusion of the program. One of the factors they are surveyed about is their opinion of their own university. She said that, hands down, for the past decade, UA students have given positive ratings of their school that far out pace any other school they get students from. So much so, in fact, that when her own daughter was looking for a school, she insisted that she at least look at UA. When they got to campus, she said she looked at her husband and said, "oh, shite, we're going to be paying out-of-state tuition" because the place made that big of an impact on them from the minute they stepped foot on campus.

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Understand the concept, but the increase for ISS is on par with OOSSs. The ISS are getting squeezed out by the recruitment of OOSS and the failure of the PACT Plan. The fixed cost are more for 35K students than for 24K, the snowball effect of that is less state money per student and fewer opportunities for the the citizens of Alabama to get a cheap education. The state will have to make a decision, fund Secondary Education or fund Higher Education. I think Secondary will win out, and the result will be higher ISS Tuition.

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For the record, I think that will be the hardest thing LSU will have to overcome; Louisiana residents LOVE Louisiana, and LSU in particular, more than any other state in the country. State pride is tremendous down there. I knew a girl from BR in college who was almost shunned by her family for wanting to "get out of Louisiana" for 4 whole years and go to Alabama. That's retarded. Alabama and Ole Miss don't care if you're from the North Pole.

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I was an OOS student to LSU (from Alabama) and felt quite welcome. One of the challenges LSU will have is being the sole flagship of the state. So from the State's perespective it is there to serve the needs of the best of Louisiana first.

They are finally realizing there is room for some growth to campus from OOS: even more from TX, ATL, and the DC area in particular are big focuses now for LSU.

There has been more bull shite spouted in this thread than there has ever been on the rant... it is truly pathetic the extent to which some people go to discredit anything positive about the University of Alabama. It is obsession and jealousy at its finest. Its really just pathetic...

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UF, UGA, UT and TAMU don't need to be more aggressive in retention OOS recruitment bc they have maintained their quality of getting the tops grads in state. It's the smaller SEC states like Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina that need to target more from OOS. Just a volume issue.

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Exactly. Just like in football - in Florida, there are only 75 scholarships to offer for instate, big-time schools (UF, FSU, UM), but there are more than 75 big-time prospects. There are plenty of kids in GA, FL, TX, VA, OH, etc., who are highly qualified, but because of space issues at their state schools weren't able to gain admittance. They have to go somewhere.

The post about the Hope Scholarship for GA was dead on. If they don't get into UGA and don't want to be an engineer at GaTech, they can either go to some lower-tier GA school or go out of state. University of Alabama looks better on a resume, at least the first time out, than Valdosta State or North Georgia (though the schools offer quality educations).

Yeah, we had one working for our division who transferred to undergraduate admissions to work that area.

A while back, they even bought screen time in a bunch of south Florida movie theaters, LOL. Right in the middle of the turn off your phone, buy a Coke, and here's the next "in a world..." preview was that "a drop of water becomes a raging tide" advertisement.

Why do we care?

Every school in the SEC has low admission standards outside of Vandy, UF, A&M, and UGA (to a lesser extent). Bama (and Ole Miss) has been recruiting out-of-state students more heavily than other SEC schools.

Why do we care, again?

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Every school in the SEC has low admission standards outside of Vandy, UF, A&M, and UGA (to a lesser extent). Bama (and Ole Miss) has been recruiting out-of-state students more heavily than other SEC schools.

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High populations in Texas, Florida, and Georgia make it competitive, driving the value of the education of Texas A&M, UF, and UGA. Vandy speaks for itself, being private and all.

ETA: TAMU isn't very selective. Nearly 70% of applications received are admitted.