Freshmen attending schools close to home

by Laura M. Schneider and Kristen Dzikowski
Staff Writers

A nationwide trend in which college students study closer to home may be the cause of slipping numbers of out-of-state freshmen at Ohio University, officials said.

In 1997, the average college freshman went to school 73 miles from home compared to 57 miles in 1998 and 59 miles in 1999, according to statistics from Post Secondary Education Opportunity, a higher education research organization.

OU freshman and Cincinnati native Jeremy Den Herder said being near home is convenient.

"I'm happy with OU because I'm going to where I wanted to go to school and I'm not too far from home-cooking," Den Herder said. "It's convenient for me to be closer to home because it takes less time to get home, so it's not such a hassle."

The number of out-of-state freshmen at OU has decreased since 1999. But this year's statistics are similar to those from 1997 and 1998, said Vice President of Administration for Enrollment Kip Howard.

"People aren't as mobile as they used to be," Howard said.

The slowing economy may be one factor anchoring students near home, said Barmak Nassirian, a spokesperson for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

"As the economy slows down, you tend to see this increasing proximity to home. It may amplify for next year," he said. "People tend not to go as far away. Going far away is in general a cause for increased cost."

Howard said the cost of the out-of-state surcharge also deters some students.

"There's a tendency for students to look closer to home," Howard said. "When you look at costs for non-residents to come to OU, it's about $6,000 more."

University officials planned to experiment with decreased surcharges this year but budget limitations prevented such projects, Howard said.

"I think if we didn't have that surcharge, we would do a lot better," he said. "The reality is that that would be a very, very costly item in the budget right now."

Howard said officials likely will look into future surcharge decreases if the budget allows. He said he would like to see more students migrating to Ohio and expanding campus diversity.

"The university is benefited by getting a more diverse population: multicultural students, international students and out-of-state students," he said.

OU freshman Lynn Jocobus of Wisconsin said she is happy despite a 9-and-a-half-hour drive from home to Athens.

"There are times when I wish I could go home as often as the in-state students do, but other than that I am glad I came here," she said.