Kiplinger Gives GMU Their "High Value" Rating (chapel, best school)

[oneasterisk]

Originally Posted by snoie

I've not put the majority of my IT degree to use, even considering I work as an Network Administrator now.

That's one of the reasons I'm glad I didn't go to college before starting my career. I've been in the IT industry for about 11 years now and I don't have a degree, but I do have practical real world experience without the school loans. Through my time in the industry I've ran into quite a few people in IT whose degrees aren't even related to IT at all.

Now that my new job is willing to pay up to 50k in school loans in my lifetime, I will be making use of it and will go to school on their dime. GMU is at the top of my list. I'm equi-distant to the Manassas and FFX campus so that's a big plus for me. I'll probably go to NVCC for the associates and then transfer to GMU for the Bachelors.

[normie]

What do you guys think of this bill that got introduced yesterday that would require most of Virginia's public colleges to reserve three-quarters of their openings for Virginia students. Is it a good idea or a bad idea? Schools will lose that extra money that comes from out-of-state tuition, OTOH local kids would have a better chance of going to school in their own state.

[oneasterisk]

Seems almost like affirmative action which I also don't agree with...

[normie]

It seems to be out-of-state students often become Virginia residents, so enrolling them is a way of having young people with fresh new ideas moving to our state. Isn't that a good thing? Also, if they lose the extra money that out-of-state students pay, who ultimately makes up the difference? You and I? No thanks.

Besides, we have great public schools here. Our high school kids ought to be good enough to get into the colleges on their own merit, without needing a special break.

[Caladium]

On the other hand, our taxes pay for these schools. It's ridiculous when local kids with 3.7 averages can't get into them.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by oneasterisk

Seems almost like affirmative action which I also don't agree with...

Exactly!

[normie]

The best and the brightest deserve to get into top schools. There should be no cuts in line just because you happen to live in VA.

[ACWhite]

In a lot of states, the "subsidy" provided by taxes is less than a quarter of the costs of students' education. This has declined over time, as budgets have been stretched and the costs of prisons, etc., have grown. (Not sure if that's true for GMU and other VA schools.)

So, often the out-of-state students are in effect providing more of a subsidy by covering their full costs, and possibly more, which is why admissions committees want to give them an equal shot at admissions rather than prefer in-state students with the same qualifications.

Some "state" schools have even decided to become private and forgo the subsidy so that they don't also have all the demands that come with it, since it isn't worth the small subsidy, and other "state" schools are considering this.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by normie

The best and the brightest deserve to get into top schools. There should be no cuts in line just because you happen to live in VA.

Well, in this area, the best and brightest Virginia students aren't making it into UVA or the top schools either. I do know of several 3.7 GPA students who didn't make it into UVA, VATech, etc. Currently, most VA state colleges allow 60 percent admission for in-state. The trend is to take more out of state students for the money. It is very likely that your 3.8 GPA student could be turned down for most of the top-tier VA schools in favor of say, a 3.6 GPA out of state resident.

I have heard so many stories (yes, anectdotal) of out-of-state kids having an easier time making the cut into UVA.

I think many people want VA to follow the course of some of the schools in NC. For instance, I believe Duke University requirest 78% of students to be NC residents.

[normie]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

It is very likely that your 3.8 GPA student could be turned down for most of the top-tier VA schools in favor of say, a 3.6 GPA out of state resident.

If that's the case, I'll amend my earlier statement to "there should be no cuts in line for anyone, in state or out of state."