Buying Outsiders - Kellie Woodhouse, Inside Higher Ed

Public universities are using non-need-based aid to recruit out-of-state students, at the expense of low-income and in-state students. That’s the thesis of a report released today by New America. Public colleges that provide substantial amounts of what they call merit aid to students tend to enroll more nonresident students -- and have experienced a greater decline in resident students over the past 15 years -- than their peers that don't use that strategy, the report found. They also tend to enroll fewer students with Pell Grants and charge low-income students a higher average net price than colleges that provide little merit aid. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/05/18/report-criticizes-public-colleges-use-funds-recruit-out-state-students