UO Campus
The University of Oregon's campus in Eugene is nearly 50 percent out-of-state students.
(Andrew Theen/The Oregonian)
More than twice as many freshman came to Oregon for a public college education compared to the number of those who left the state for school in 2014, according to a New York Times analysis.
The Times took a deep dive Friday into the migratory patterns of college students across the nation, a result of dramatic state budget cuts in support for higher education since the Great Recession and rising tuition at public schools across the country.
The takeaway: Students are often looking for college opportunities across state lines as schools look to bring in out-of-state students to bring in more revenue. Students have long left their home state for private schools, but the Times found that the number of out-of-state freshman at public schools has nearly doubled in the past 30 years.
In California, the trend has caused concern that out-of-state students are preventing in-state students from getting into state colleges, according to a recent audit. Nationwide, studies show out-of-state residents crowd out low-income and minority students in the cold.
"It seems like all the incentives are going after wealthy students and leaving the low-income students in the dust," Stephen Burd, a senior policy analyst with the New America Foundation, told the Times.
According to the Times' analysis of U.S. Department of Education figures, 3,579 students came to Oregon in 2014 for college while just 1,425 state student left for other states.
Oregon sent the most college students to Washington state, according to the analysis, with 239 residents crossing the Columbia River.
Californians accounted for more than 50 percent of the out-of-state freshman attending Oregon public universities in 2014..
The University of Oregon and Oregon State both turn to out-of-state students to bring in more revenue.
According to UO figures from 2015, nearly one-third of the undergraduate student body came from a different state. When added with the number of international students, 46 percent of undergraduates were not from Oregon.
Outgoing Portland State University President Wim Wiewel told The Oregonian that his successor must boost the number of out-of-state students attending PSU.
Wiewel called the out-of-state students "obviously essential" to the school's future. "That's why UO with fewer students, has $150 million more per year to spend because they have nonresident students," Wiewel pointed out.
The average cost of attending a public school increased 67.7 percent from 2000 to 2015, according to the College Board, with the current average nationwide topping $19,500.
Check out the New York Times' graphic and story:
-- Andrew Theen
atheen@oregonian.com
503-294-4026
@andrewtheen