Ohio University will continue recruiting out-of-state students to boost enrollment, but with a new twist: a new program will allow some of them to pay in-state tuition.
The Forever Buckeye program was created by a provision included in the state budget, which passed last summer. It was instituted at OU on Sept. 30, said Becky Watts, chief of staff to OU President Roderick McDavis.
The program allows students who graduated from an Ohio high school but currently live out of state to attend an Ohio university and pay in-state tuition. The student must have graduated from high school within 10 years of the beginning date of his or her first term at a university.
For instance, anybody applying to attend OU beginning Winter Quarter must have graduated high school on or after Jan. 3, 2002.
“As we’ve seen in the data, the number of grads in the state of Ohio is projected to continue a steady decline in the next few years,” Watts said. “So, it will be important for universities in the state of Ohio to work very hard on maintaining their enrollment.”
Another requirement is that students must have established permanent residence in Ohio by the first day of classes of the term for which they are applying. They can prove permanent residence with a lease, mortgage statement or housing contract. This will permit students who wish to live on campus to take advantage of the program.
Normally, students must live in the state for 12 consecutive months to establish permanent residence in Ohio. Forever Buckeye will allow students to establish residency immediately.
The forms are available, but no students at OU are using the program yet. Since Forever Buckeye was instituted after the opening date of Fall Quarter, the first active students won’t arrive until Winter Quarter.
“We have to do everything we can to attract and retain students to Ohio,” said Kim Norris, spokeswoman for the Ohio Board of Regents. “We’re not going to grow our population in Ohio based on the birth rate.”
She added that the program would not decrease the university’s income from tuition because it will attract out-of-state students who otherwise would not attend OU.
“This doesn’t mean that we’ll decrease our other out-of-state enrollment,” Watts said.
For students using this program, tuition payments would be cut almost in half. Out-of-state tuition is $18,834 per year, whereas in-state students pay $9,870.
“This would encourage a student to come to Ohio and to go to school in Ohio,” Norris said. “This would be a student that, otherwise, might be contemplating going to school somewhere else.”
bv111010@ohiou.edu
