When I started this blog, I promised that I would occasionally “re-report” items of interest covered in the media.  Here is the first one.

Mark Twain defined an expert as “an ordinary fellow from another town.”  I rather doubt the University of California had that in mind when it decided to give preference to out-of-state and international applicants in admissions.  Rather, as explained in a recent New York Times article, the tuition differential between in-state and out-of-state residents provides a huge subsidy which helps keep universities solvent.

See Public Colleges Chase Out-of-State Students, and Tuition, New York Times, July 7, 2016:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/us/public-colleges-chase-out-of-state-students-and-tuition.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=RelatedCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

As noted in the article, this is a nationwide trend.  Even though the UC has backtracked a bit under enormous pressure (and a state auditor’s report criticizing the practice), the financial realities mean that most public universities will continue to give out-of-state and international students an edge in admissions.

If flush with cash, students can use this fact to their advantage by applying to premiere colleges outside their home states.  Note, however, that the old maneuver of moving to a new state, getting a driver’s license, and then seeking to pay only in-state tuition does not work anymore.  Most colleges carefully exclude those persons who moved to their state for “educational reasons”.

Caveat emptor.