3/5/02

Roy Summerford, 334/844-9999

OUT-OF-STATE STUDENTS WOULD GET UNFAIR BREAK UNDER BILL

AUBURN -- Proposed legislation in the Alabama Senate would enable some state colleges and universities to unfairly subsidize out-of-state students at the expense of Alabama taxpayers, say Auburn University officials.

Senate Bill 12, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Dial of Lineville, would repeal key aspects of a higher education reform act passed by the Legislature in 1996.

It would allow some institutions to charge out-of-state students the same tuition as in-state students. The 1996 act requires public colleges and universities in Alabama to set out-of-state tuition at least two times the tuition institutions charge students who are Alabama residents.

"It's not fair to the taxpayers of Alabama for institutions to subsidize out-of-state students, especially when there is not enough money to adequately provide for the students whose parents pay taxes in this state," said interim AU President William F. Walker.

"A state that has to struggle financially to educate its own students cannot afford to pick up the added expense of educating students from neighboring states," he said. "We have no problem with out-of-state students attending any institution as long as they pay their own way."

Walker said AU charges out-of-state students three times the tuition of Alabama residents in order to spare Alabama taxpayers the expense of educating those students.

He also noted that none of the states surrounding Alabama offer discounts to Alabama students who might want to enroll in their colleges or universities. "There's absolutely no reciprocity for Alabama students," Walker added.

Although the institutions seeking passage of the bill argue that it would enable them to use excess capacity, Buddy Mitchell, AUšs executive director of governmental affairs, said the state would have to pick up the cost of the additional students.

"That hurts our case for additional money for higher education when some institutions want to use part of it to subsidize students from other states," Mitchell said. "Out-of-state students should pay their fair share so that we can use state funds to educate our own students."

Mitchell noted that the institutions that would benefit from repeal of the out-of-state tuition requirement already extend in-state tuition benefits to residents of neighboring states when any part of their counties fall within a 50-mile radius of the institutions. Although AU is within 50 miles of several Georgia counties, the university does not permit its out-of-state students to claim the exemption.

"The 50-mile exemption was part of the compromise in 1996, and now they want to extend it nationwide," Mitchell said. ŗThe change would defeat the intent of the law, which was intended to make sure that Alabama taxes go to support the education of our own students."

mar02:AU:students

CONTACT: Mitchell, 334/242-2688.