Indiana sees increase in out-of-state students

Universities around the country have been facing declining numbers of out-of-state students, but colleges in Indiana have seen no such trend at this point.\nJo Ann Brown, the senior associate director of admission at Purdue University, said Indiana seems to have an increasing number of in-state enrollment.\n"Although the number of high school students is on the rise in Indiana, we still do quite a bit of out-of-state recruiting," said Brown. "We have our staff of 15-20 members and alumni who do places we can't easily reach on the road at college fairs and high schools."\nMost of Purdue's recruitment follows the national trend, focusing on areas such as California, Texas, Florida and the east coast, Brown said. The university also looks for people who live in U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico.\n"We take a lot of people from the (Washington) D.C. area because they are normally a mobile population and are more willing to move to a different setting," said Brown. "We are also looking for people out of the country to help diversity ... we want diversity of gender and ideas. So we bring people in from all over the world to help constitute that belief."\nThe statistics at Purdue claim that they receive approximately 33 percent out-of-state students, while at IU more than 40 percent are from outside the state, according to the universities' enrollment booklets.\n"We want to stay right about where we are in out-of-state enrollment," said Mary Ellen Anderson, IU's director of admissions.\nAlthough IU doesn't do much recruiting out of the nation, Anderson said the University still has 10 percent of students enrolled from other countries.\nThe reason for out-of-state students being attracted to schools such as IU, Purdue or Ball State could be a result of students' comfort area and their major, said Larry Waters, dean of admissions and enrollment services at Ball State.\n"They come to BSU for architecture, telecommunication and nursing," Waters said. "The reason the majority of them come here is because, with only 19,000 students, they have a level of comfort. The faculty is accessible to them day and night, and they all feel very much at home."\nAlthough the new president at Ball State expects the admissions office to do more out-of-state recruiting, she still wants to keep between 85-90 percent of the students from Indiana.\nOther factors that could affect the way students choose their school are in the areas of race, gender and sexuality, among the few.\nAlthough the majority of the students come from Indiana, out-of-state students may find IU enticing due to its atmosphere and diversity.\n"Although Indiana has a wonderful population and we can always get a nice blend of students, we try to get diversity," Anderson said. "I don't see a population decline; we just tend to recruit more out of state then most schools."\n"I came here first for the business school," said freshman Eric Curry. "I come from Texas and the small college-town atmosphere enticed me also."\nAnderson said the many attributes of IU, including the beauty of the campus and the Kelley School of Business, seem to help recruiting as well.\n"Our diverse nature is what makes IU a phenomenal place for everyone," Anderson said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Ryne \nShadday at rshadday@indiana.edu.