Some public universities across the country will begin to
lower their tuition for out-of-state students in fall 2008, though University
of Wisconsin students will not see decreasing tuition costs anytime soon.

Schools including the University of Nebraska-Omaha and
California State University-East Bay are trying to increase diversity and
increase the number of students on their campuses by lowering the tuition for
nonresident students from neighboring states.

The UW System has already taken measures to increase the
number of nonresident students in their colleges by lowering out-of-state
tuition for all the campuses in the UW System in 2006 ? expect for UW-Madison.

Board of Regents Vice President Chuck Pruitt said this
measure was because UW schools had been priced out of the competitive market
and were unable to draw enough nonresident students.

The regents voted to lower the average out-of-state tuition
of $14,300 at these schools by $2,000 per year, and Pruitt said the regents
felt this was necessary to stay competitive with other schools in their peer
groups.

?We lost a significant number of students who would go to
UW-Oshkosh, UW-Green Bay, UW-La Crosse, all of these schools,? Pruitt said. ?We
took a hard look and recognized that an out-of-state student more than pays for
the cost of their education ? and adjusted the tuition.?

UW professor of education administration Jacob Stampen said
the reason universities have begun to lower tuition prices is the university
loses revenue if it loses out-of-state students.

The regents did not lower the tuition at UW-Madison because
there is no lack of out-of-state applicants, Pruitt said.

Stampen said the trigger for the recent decreases in tuition
in public and private universities around the country is the debate over the
reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, a federal act intended to
strengthen the resources of colleges and universities and provide financial aid
to students. He said there has been a lot of criticism over the raising of
tuition, especially at some private universities that don?t need the money.

Stampen said institutions continue to raise tuition, which
in turn makes financial aid offered by the government to students less
effective, adding Congress is also criticizing banks for not doing anything about
the loan system.

?[The state is] supposed to invest enough in their colleges
so that the school doesn?t need to raise their tuition,? Stampen said.

According to UW System spokesperson David Giroux, there were
and still are some political sensitivities when the Board of Regents voted to
cut the cost of nonresident tuition.

Giroux said people are concerned that, by offering
nonresidents a reduced tuition price, the university would be bringing in more
nonresident students that would take the place of resident students.

Giroux said this is not the case, however, because the UW
System has a self-imposed out-of-state student cap that says that no more than
25 percent of undergraduates can be nonresidents. He also said nonresident
students subsidize in-state students because they ?more than pay for the cost
of their education.?