It is a budget issue. Arkansas law provides that students from Arkansas as well as certain counties in Missouri, Tennessee, and Mississippi are eligible for in-state tuition at ASU.

For accounting purposes, the athletic department pays the university the equivalent of 203 in-state scholarships for athletics but to the best of knowledge student-athletes in equivalency sports pay out-of-state tuition unless they are from Arkansas, one of the aforementioned counties, or the child of an ASU alum. So if you get a 25% ride in baseball you are credited with 25% of out-of-state tuition even though the department pays 25% of in-state. You then pay 75% of out-of-state.

There was some talk of extending in-state rate to all student-athletes but that has some NCAA issues.

I believe in the North Carolina example, what is happening is like at Arkansas State, school bills the department as if in-state which is of little consequence to the player getting a full ride but does matter to the kid in sports where scholies are split. The department is paying as if in-state but it is credited to the kid's account as if that percentage of out-of-state.

I thought the instate here was discontinued because of budget issues, but either way, eliminating it is costly. Having 6 or 7 FBS schools instate definately requires us to spread a bigger net (thank you Georgia.)

SI.com . . Gus Malzahn sparks Arkansas State recruiting behind A-State Ambush

There are 215 high schools in the state of Arkansas that play football. New Arkansas State coach Gus Malzahn wants to visit every one of them. The offensive guru who began his career at Hughes (Ark.) High and Shiloh Christian (Ark.) High has put together his most aggressive play-calling package to date: The A-State Ambush.

"We're going to recruit this state like it's never been recruited," Malzahn said in a press release.

On Monday, the ambush began. The five-day recruiting attack has been met with positive reception from area coaches.

"It is a great idea," said Josh Floyd, the current head coach at Shiloh Christian. "To hit every single school sends a strong message that they take this state seriously and want to keep kids here.

"For the smaller schools that may not have a top kid, or may not ever have a kid get recruited, it makes them feel like part of the process and will help build relationships with the coaches. It shows they want to get out there and really hone in on the local product."

Har-Ber (Ark.) High coach Chris Wood says the task is daunting, yet feasible.

"The state is the right size to accomplish that approach," Wood said. "The grassroots approach is probably the right one to take for them because people here have deep roots, and if he can get that program to be part of the tradition more kids will want to go there."

Though Wood hasn't sent a player to Arkansas State since the school opened in 2006, he says he'd have no hesitations in the future. In fact, three-star tight end Nick Byrne currently holds an offer from Malzahn.

"There are a lot of kids that want to represent their state," he said, "whether it is at Arkansas or Arkansas State."

The plan should help Arkansas State make in-roads with previously untargeted prospects -- and add to Malzahn's growing statewide legend.


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/hi...z1t566SUfO


Go stAte . . Go SBC !!