Higher educational institutions; board of visitors set rules so 75% enrolled be Virginia domiciles. (HB2053)

The current laws in VA are not suffient to allow qualified in -state students acceptance to the best VA Universities. 25% out of state student poplulation is a start in the right direction but lawmakers can do better.When a student with a 3.7 can't attend a top VA School something is terribly wrong. BTW, ever wonder why out of state students have a tough time getting into UNC? It is because the NC legislature has capped out of state students at 17%.

Citing GPAs in these discussions isn't all that helpful in this discussion. The scales and weighting vary from district to district, with some districts allowing for GPAs in the 4.5 and 5.0 range (sometimes higher). So, the 3.7 referenced by Anne Erickson above might mean good grades in an average program in one district, average grades in a good academic program in another, and low grades in a weak program in another.

Keep in mind that Virginia has a fantastic array of options for higher education. There are 15 four year colleges/universities and 24 two year colleges in the Commonwealth.

Also, one might want to stop comparing UVA and UNC-Chapel Hill it does not help your case.

UVA instate acceptance rate 45%
UNC instate acceptance rate 36%

Also, read what Dean J has stated she is 100% accurate. Students at our local HS with a 3.7 would be lucky to get into a lowered tiered school in the Commonwealth. At some point people need to educate themselves on the number of variables that are out there. You cannot solely rely on stats that are not congruent to each other. Also, a student could have a 4.0 and never taken an AP class or a rigorous course load. UVa and W&M look at the ability of a student to do well at their institution not just a GPA. It is the overall picture of GPA, stats, standardized test scores, course load for four years, extra curricular activities, and writing ability that enables admissions to decide on an applicant. Politicians and residents of VA need to understand there is more to a GPA. Students getting into the top schools of VA have taken at least 6 AP's, that is usually the minimum. Most students take 8-10 that are getting in there and do quite well once admitted. I ask that before any decisions or even further discussions are made please take the time to educate yourselves on this process.I want to leave with one last thought Virginia is comprised of many geographical areas and all of those areas need to be represented.

To Dean J: If you can't accurately assess and compare GPA performance because of differences in school districts, how do you endeavor to do so with out-of-state districts in New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. If UVA raised its in-state population, the quality of its enrolled student body would not suffer one iota. However, put simply, its tuition revenue would decline and its perceived cachet in the Mid-Atlantic corridor would be altered. But the educational process and quality of students would be unchanged. Over 15-20 years ago, it was necessary for UVA to attract out-of-state students to raise its true academic profile. But with the population explosion in Virginia (over 8 million total and 12th largest nationally), I firmly believe that UVA could maintain its percentile metrics of GPA, SAT, etc. by moving the in-state needle from an alleged 64% (likely lower in actuality) to 72-74%.

VIrginia Parent: What you don't understand is that because of the tiered system in VA, students automatically self-select themselves to not applying to UVA. Whereas UNC is regarded as a "true" flagship state university, it attracts a broad range of applications from in-state students. Most VA high students do not apply to UVA. They know they will be rejected. They have seen the "horror" stories up close and personal....4.0 and 1300 buys you a ticket to the first train out of Charlottesville. This self-selection distorts the in-state acceptance to a higher level. Students, parents, teachers, and counselors al know which in-state students should not waste the time and effort to apply to UVA, and therefore they don't.

UVA's applications have increased from 15,900 in 2005 to 22,500 in 2010. The number of students enrolled has increased only marginally. UVA is using the out-of-state applications to increase its selectivity index. In order to keep attracting the number of out-of-state applicants (i.e., prime the pump), it must continue to admit a good portion of these students. Only 30% of out-state students admitted actually attend UVA, while over 65% of in-state admittees enroll. Simple fix. Raise tuition by $1,500 for all students, and raise in-state population from 64% to 72-74%.

I really don't know how I feel about this. My son was accepted to every school he applied to (in state and out of state). There is probably more to the story of why that young man wasn't accepted. I think as VA taxpayers we should be able to hope that our kids will get into one of the schools we support. But, will in state tuition rise if there is a cap on out of state students? There were rumors a few years ago that UVA was considering going private...will this push them over the edge? Maybe the answer is no cap but push the tuition rates for out of state students to a point where it is no longer attractive.

Added to the dilemma at UVA is its participation in ACC athletics, which requires a high volume of student-athletes to be admitted and thereby further limits the number of open seats for "regular" smart kids from inside the Commonwealth. If 35% of the freshmen class is slotted for out-of-state students and another 15% for student-athletes/musicians/artists, then only 50% is left for "regular" smart kids to fight over.

Spoken, I've addressed how GPA is dealt with on my blog.

Each school counselor includes a profile of their school which explains the methodology for calculating GPA, the grade scale in place, how rank is determined (if at all), what curricula is available, and what restrictions are placed on students. We use the school profile as a "key" for interpreting the transcripts of applications.

When people toss out a GPA at us without any context, it is meaningless.

I know you have commented on my blog about this. I encourage you to read more deeply. I have addressed this multiple times. The students seem to get it.