In-state tuition may be approved for non-Hoosiers

Indiana Sen. Joe Zakas, R-11th District, recently introduced a bill that would allow the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to authorize a regional campus of IU or Purdue University to charge in-state tuition to residents of other states.
 
Although his plans sound familiar to the common practice of reciprocity, his bill neglects to mention a reciprocal state-to-state agreement which would benefit out-of-state residents as well as Indiana residents mutually.

Zakas’ bill, if turned into law, would let certain out-of-state (i.e. Michigan) residents pay in-state tuition at a regional campus of IU (i.e. IU-South Bend) or Purdue University.

There are already certain permanent residents of Kentucky and Ohio who pay in-state tuition for attending certain Indiana colleges and vice versa. This concept is referred to as reciprocity.

Zakas’ bill, however, does not mention in-state benefits for certain northern Indiana residents wishing to attend school across the border in Michigan.

Zakas said his main purpose behind authoring the bill is to attract Michigan residents to IU-South Bend, many of whom spend much of their time in South Bend daily.

“There are a bunch of people who work and do a lot of business activities in Indiana, but they live just over the border,” Zakas said.

His reasoning is the logic behind Indiana’s existing reciprocity agreements with two of its neighboring states. The idea is to benefit individuals living in economic regions who
cross state lines.

“In terms of Indiana South Bend negotiating across the county (and state line) saying ‘Hey, we’re gonna give you in-state tuition rates,’ that’s fine, but we don’t call that reciprocity, it’s not a reciprocal agreement,” said Jon Gubera, associate commissioner for policy and planning studies at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

The State of Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education negotiates with Kentucky’s Commission as well as Ohio’s to map out terms of the reciprocity agreements, including which schools to include.

John Applegate, vice president for University Regional Affairs, Planning and Policy at IU, said Michigan lacks a governing body in which to enter into a reciprocity agreement.

“We don’t have any way to have a relationship with Michigan,” IU Trustee Philip N. Eskew Jr. said. “We are trying to do something to solve this problem.”

Eskew, who is the Trustee Liaison to IU-South Bend, said issuing scholarships to these Michigan residents may be the most feasible solution.

Gubera said the Indiana Commission has no role in non-reciprocal agreements. For this reason it would be ultimately left up to the decision of the nine members of the IU Board of Trustees whether to grant certain Michigan residents in-state tuition.

“This has gotten the attention of the IU Board of Trustees because I filed a bill trying to find a way to solve this problem,” Zakas said. “Now they are going to be more interested than they were without the bill.”

The reason for state support is to subsidize the difference between the total cost of education and what the in-state student actually pays, IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said. The total cost of education is usually represented by the out-of-state tuition rate.

In such a reciprocal agreement, neither state is losing money because Indiana is subsidizing just as many Kentucky students as Kentucky is for Indiana. Without a reciprocal agreement, there is no way to ensure this level of parity.

“We can’t be at a position to be put at risk,” Applegate said. “Senator Zakas has been helpful but to make this possible, it would require more sweeping change.”