How To Woo More Out-Of-State Students? Tennessee Universities Try Steep Tuition Discounts

Several public universities in Tennessee are lowering their out-of-state tuition this fall for a certain set of students — those who are from places up to 250 miles away.

This new rule covers a wide area. Take Tennessee State University: If you put the school in the center of a circle, and draw radius of 250 miles in all directions, you cover as far north as Indianapolis, northwest to St. Louis, east to Asheville, and down to Atlanta.

TSU
senior Jordan Gaither
is from Atlanta. He and his parents currently pay all his tuition out of pocket. 
“With me being an out of student, it is definitely a lot,” he says.

But under the new rule, his tuition for the upcoming year will be cut by about $9,000. It’s still not quite as cheap as the in-state rate, but it’s enough to take off a big burden, he says. “I don’t take that for granted at all.”

This kind of 250-mile program first started in 2014 at the University of Memphis. The campus is right on the border, and it already gave in-state tuition to students from neighboring counties, b
ut the school wanted to attract more students from the whole region. Vice-provost Steve McKellips
says some students might even stay in Memphis after college.

“This is a major initiative that helps the university, helps the community, helps the workforce development, helps the students — it kind of has a win on all four sides,” he says.

The program seems to be working: More out-of-state students have been applying in the past two years, McKellips says, especially within that circle. However, McKellips notes that the university has also been recruiting more heavily from that area — the increase in applicants is not caused by the discount alone, he says.

This fall is the first time that all six Board of Regents universities will offer some sort of 250-mile discount. Some schools, like Austin Peay and MTSU, have an extra requirement — students also need to have higher ACT scores to be eligible.