Which Public Universities Are Most Welcoming to Out-of-State Students?

For tuition bargain hunters, public universities can offer some pretty sweet deals. But shopping for these deals involves a little creativity and research as well as a willingness to expand geographic horizons.

The logical first step is to look at the public universities and colleges in your home state. Although their purse strings are centrally controlled, public universities within a single state vary in terms of tuition and fees charged to residents.

In Virginia, in-state charges range from $11,100 at the College of William and Mary to $7117 at Virginia Commonwealth University. The differences within the Maryland system are narrower. The University of Maryland Baltimore County charges $8872, while Salisbury University charges residents $6618. A little comparison shopping can’t hurt.

If these programs don’t work and you’re prepared to venture a little further from home, get creative. You may be surprised to find how welcoming publics in other states can be to nonresident students. In fact, some states have a strategy of enrolling a large percent of nonresidents for revenue-generating purposes and tuition can be quite reasonable.

But just like you wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes two sizes too small because they were a terrific bargain, don’t jump too quickly at the price tag. Although, it’s tempting to let the bottom line drive the process, keep in mind the importance of “fit” in your college search.

In addition to some of the more obvious elements of fit—cost, location, size, campus character, availability of desired majors—you may want to consider the mix of in-state students vs. those coming from out of state. At a minimum, you can get an idea of how welcoming the campus is to nonresident students.

Based on data collected by US News and World Report, the following is a chart listing public universities with the greatest percentage of out-of-state students:

Public University	Out-of-state Freshmen	Out-of State Undergrads
University of Vermont	74%	65%
University of Delaware	73%	64%
North Dakota State	65%	45%
University of North Dakota	61%	48%
University of Wyoming	54%	29%
West Virginia University	53%	46%
University of Rhode Island	50%	39%
University of Iowa	48%	37%
University of Colorado--Boulder	47%	33%
University of New Hampshire	44%	43%
Auburn University	43%	35%
University of Oregon	40%	30%
University of Idaho	39%	31%
University of Arizona	38%	29%
University of South Carolina	38%	26%

While not necessarily the most important factor in your decision, these numbers should certainly provide you with some food for thought when considering out-of-state options. The complete list—including schools with the smallest percentages of nonresident students—may be found on the USNW website.