(08-14-2019 09:18 AM)gulfcoastgal Wrote:  

(08-14-2019 07:18 AM)jamgut Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 06:13 PM)DallasTiger Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 08:36 AM)pkptigers07 Wrote:  

(08-12-2019 11:42 PM)kabluey Wrote:  I wouldn't set my ambitions or my goals on others' limitations imposed upon me. I trust Rudd isnt going to let others stifle his own plans, either. It better happen if the city wants to achieve its potential it better have far more college students than it currently has. I don't see Union University becoming Grand Canyon anytime soon, or Rhodes or CBU becoming Emory or Wash U. I hope it happens though. The good thing is U of M is already mimicking at least one aspect that Arizona State has done to increase its reach. Long way from becoming that caliber, but it's a step.

It would be one of my moonshots and I would move heaven and Earth to make it happen.

When has Rudd ever said that 35-40k enrollment is one of plans?

It’s is well documented that university enrollments are expected to decline significantly in the mid 20s due to low birth rates during the Great Recession. Online growth will surely help offset this but it’s not realistic to think Memphis is going to transform into ASU or Grand Canyon in the next 5 years. There are already to many major players in that game.

I remember a meeting with Dr. Humphries many years ago and I asked him, "How can we get more out of state students interested in going to Memphis State?" To which he replied "I am really not interested in getting more students from out of state." Seems like expanding enrollment that way....was of no interest to him.

Of course, that was not exactly "Out of the Box Thinking" by Humphries. Recently, I took my grandson from here in Texas to visit the Univ of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Since he had a 3.6 GPA, both universities offered him in state tuition to go to those schools. The theory is that offering in state tuition from students from neighboring states makes a lot of sense.
1. You get bright students already educated on the neighboring states taxes
2. You get students who are the brightest and they end up as your alumni.
3. Many of those students end up living in your state and paying taxes there.
4. Many of those alums end up creating jobs in your state and become state leaders.

Basically, you are draining talent from neighboring states to your state by offering them a price cut on tuition.

Sometimes the reach is beyond neighboring states. Western Kentucky offers deals to kids in metro Atlanta so that their tuition is higher than the in-state rate, but significantly less than the normal out-of-state rate. The University of Georgia gets lots of freshmen applications, so Western Kentucky seems to targeting high-performing kids that might have to "settle" for a regional school in Georgia.

Memphis is doing this as well. If you go back and watch or scroll through BOT meeting minutes/presentations, you can see rates and targeted areas. I recall Atlanta and Houston being two targeted areas and a proposal for the R250 program to be expanded.