Paul R. Shelly
Director, Communications & Marketing, ASCU

Herald News
April 20, 2008

As the Garden State invests another $500 million in public schools next year, the Legislature is also considering a proposal to reduce higher education funding by 10 percent, the fifth cut in 12 years. Unless the state changes course, more colleges and universities in other states will be taking our graduates.

These academic poachers will offer incentives to lure our well-prepared, and often affluent high school graduates. Both public and private colleges will be seeking them out. State government policy plays a role; many states realize that where students land academically, they often stay to start careers and contribute to the tax rolls and economy.

New Jersey is in a losing position. It ranks 50th in the nation in four-year public college seats per high school graduate. It is number one in the nation in net out-migration of college-bound high school graduates.

How ironic is it that, at the elementary and secondary school levels, except for New York State, New Jersey spends more per student, on average, than any other state: $14,630 a year based on 2006 data released recently.

A 21st century course correction in higher education policy is needed. New Jersey public high school graduates over the next decade or so will remain at a solid 100,000 students per year, roughly. In neighbor states there will be a decline, according to a recent report from the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) called "Knocking at the College Door; Projections of High School Graduates by State and Race/Ethnicity 1992-2022."

At least two big factors will contribute to an even greater "brain drain" here:

n	A ten-year decline by five or more percent in the number of annual public high school graduates at many nearby states including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, motivating these states to do more hunting for prospective students on our turf; and
n	The fact that New Jersey high school students tend to be well prepared for, and oriented toward, college and, very often, from affluent families who can pay their way.

New Jersey should expect to see policy changes in other states designed to lure Garden State students. Current New Jersey budget policy, which penalizes state colleges and universities for not charging out-of-state students full cost, is anachronistic. As it is, these students compose less than 10 percent of the student body, a far smaller share than most would think.

Other states' public universities are already moving toward tuition incentives for students from out of state, in some cases only for those who meet minimum academic standards. Examples include South Dakota, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri. It is likely that nearby New York and Pennsylvania, facing declines in the number of high school graduates, will consider tuition breaks for Jersey students.

Rather than erecting barriers for out-of-state students, many states have "reciprocity" agreements with their neighbor states regarding giving tuition breaks to their students. Minnesota is a prime example; that state has agreements with Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The WICHE report is a call to action for New Jersey to ensure that students of all racial/ethnic groups are headed toward college. The share of Hispanic students will increase from 14 percent to 19 percent of the public high school graduate population between 2004-2005 and 2014-2015; black, non-Hispanic students will compose 15 or 16 percent of future cohorts, and the Asian Pacific Islander student share will grow from 7 percent to 10 percent over the decade.

The New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities has long been an advocate of increasing college opportunity, capacity and affordability for all New Jerseyans.

We wish to do this in partnership with the state. Our New Jersey College Promise project is seeking ways to address the state's college capacity shortcomings, which affect economic development.

Our recommendations include: eliminate the out-of-state student penalty; re-prioritize student aid; and redesign, based on college missions, some educational support services to allow enrollment and graduation of more students.

Meanwhile, New Jersey students will continue to knock on the doors of affordable colleges and universities -- both here and, for many, elsewhere.

(The website for the WICHE report: www.wiche.edu.)

Similar articles appeared as:

High School Graduates Will be Lured from New Jersey - Trenton Times (April 23, 2008)
Outmigration of N.J. Students will Continue Unless State Acts - Asbury Park Press (April 23, 2008)
Expect More Poaching of NJ Grads - Home News Tribune (April 25, 2008)