With nearly 37 percent of students enrolled at the University of Wisconsin hailing from zip codes outside of the state, UW is widely recognized throughout the country and distant parts of the world as an academic and research institution because of the ability to attract people not from the dairy state.

However, officials at other state institutions such as the University of Alabama and the University of Cincinnati are projecting lower enrollment numbers in coming years. As a result, some universities have created programs designed to attract a greater out-of-state student population.

To academic institutions struggling with budget problems, “out-of-state students can add thousands in finances and additional tuition revenue,” according to Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. Nassirian added out-of-state students also provide universities with higher levels of culture.

“[Out-of-state students can] bring a level of geographic diversity that is critical to the education of all students, helping to expose all [students] to different backgrounds,” Nassirian said.

However, an influx of out-of-state applicants is not necessarily good news for all since the students also increase the selectivity of an institution, making it more difficult for some in-state students to get in.

Procedures have also changed for out-of-state recruiting.

To expose a national pool of applicants to a public university, admissions officers at state universities are increasingly paying visits to high school college fairs and guidance counselors, using “marketing and recruitment mechanisms” that can get their name out to a demographic that may have previously dismissed such a school.

Many universities are dodging the traditional booths at college fairs for website recruitment, mass mailings and in some cases advertising, Nassirian said.

However, large universities like UW are not in need of extra efforts to attract out-of-state applicants.

Schools like UW, University of California-Berkeley and University of Virginia have long been recognized as “international institutions.”

“[Such schools] don’t need to do anything more than to just be there,” Nassirian said. “Someone looking around will always take notice [of these schools].”

Still, out-of-state students are very important to the university from a variety of perspectives, according to UW Assistant Director of Admissions Thomas Reason. As a result, UW does recruiting in other states, such as Illinois and Iowa.

“Out-of-state students are important for a lot of different issues. [They are] fiscally important, [they bring] diversity [and] different ideas from a variety of backgrounds,” Reason said.

Still, a continuing decline in state funding may result in a heightened emphasis on attracting out-of-state dollars for even the most popular state schools. The most recent UW annual report shows just how important the out-of-state dollar is becoming for Madison.

According to the 2003-04 annual report put out by the Office of the Chancellor, state funding for the university has dropped from 42 percent all the way down to 21 percent over the last 30 years. While the average in-state undergraduate student pays $6,000 dollars in tuition, out-of-state undergrads spend more than three times as much, totaling approximately $20,000.

According to UW spokesperson John Lucas, there is a limited amount of out-of-state recruitment aimed at the best students.

“Out-of state tuition subsidizes cost of in-state tuition and helps keep it relatively low,” Lucas said. “It really helps in-state students’ tuition stay at a lower rate.”