7-2 Out-of-State Tuition Award Program for Graduate Students from Neighboring Regions

• Attachments are included in the PDF file.
• Effective date of this revision: January 1, 2004
• Contact for more information:  Office of Research and Graduate Studies

BACKGROUND

Central Michigan University accepts many students for graduate study who receive no funding from the university. In fact, approximately 60% of full time CMU graduate students do not receive funding. Therefore, it is difficult to attract graduate students from within Michigan; it is even more difficult to attract students from outside Michigan when those students must pay out-of-state tuition. Currently, 78% of our total graduate students come from Michigan and, of our U.S. students, 90% come from Michigan. Tuition for a 30 credit master’s program at CMU is approximately $6000 for an in-state student and approximately twice that for an out-of-state student. For a student working on a 90 credit doctoral degree, in-state tuition is over $19,000; again, out-of-state tuition is approximately twice that. It is very likely that we lose many students from outside Michigan, and particularly from outside the U.S., because of our tuition costs coupled with our inability to offer any financial assistance to most graduate students. Additionally, we are not particularly competitive with other Michigan institutions which have out-of-state tuition award programs. Other institutions offering such awards include Wayne State University, which has an out-of-state tuition award program for students from Ontario, Canada and Toledo, Ohio, and Michigan State University and Lake Superior State University which both have an out-of-state tuition award programs for Ontario students.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to increase the number, diversity and caliber of graduate students applicants and graduate students at CMU by encouraging students from areas adjacent to Michigan (Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario, Canada) to attend Central by reducing the total cost of their graduate education. This policy would also encourage students from Illinois to apply to and attend CMU since, while not adjacent to Michigan, Illinois and Michigan have an ongoing relationship through minority future faculty programs. If this tuition award program attracts more students from outside Michigan, graduate student numbers, and international student numbers should increase, increasing the tuition paid to colleges.

POLICY

Any student who is a resident of Illinois, Ohio, or Indiana with an undergraduate grade point average of 3.3 from a U.S. institution, or any student who is a resident of Ontario, Canada with an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 from a Canadian institution who is accepted into a graduate program will be considered a resident of Michigan for tuition purposes only. Out-of-state tuition costs will be waived for an award recipient’s entire academic program, as long as the student remains in good standing overall and in good standing within his/her graduate program. This award program will be marketed through print media, including the Graduate Bulletin, and all relevant web sites.

PROCEDURE

The College of Graduate Studies will code any student who is a resident of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois with an undergraduate grade point average of 3.3 or any student who is a resident of Ontario, Canada, with an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 as an in-state student for tuition purposes only upon acceptance into a graduate program. Students will be monitored each semester for continued eligibility.

Central Michigan University reserves the right to make exceptions to, modify or eliminate this policy. This document supersedes all previous policies, procedures and directives relative to this subject.