“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
Board of Regents
University System of Georgia
Out-of-State Tuition Waivers
Audit Review and Policy Revisions
January 8, 2014
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“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• Special Examination by the Georgia Department of Audits
• Examination Requested by Senate Appropriations Committee
• Specific Issues and Questions Addressed:
• Examine policies regarding out-of-state tuition waivers
• Type of students receiving waivers
• Whether waivers are authorized by statute or BOR policy
• Administrative policies used to grant waivers
• Value of waivers (i.e. – Potential Revenue Foregone)
• Waiver practices of other states
• Audit Report Consists of Answers to Questions – Not Findings
• Audit Suggestions and Potential Board Policy Revisions
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Performance Audit
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• Provides In-State Tuition to Non-Georgia Resident Students
– Non-Resident Tuition Typically 3 to 4 Times In-State Tuition Rate
– Value of Out-of-State Waiver = $3,730 to $9,298 Per Semester
• Out-of-State Tuition Waivers Used to Recruit Students
– Recruit Highly Competitive Students (Not Likely to Attend USG)
– Economic Development (7% of waivers), Military (22% of waivers)
– Maintain and Increase Enrollment (Help Offset Cost of Facilities)
• Total of $106 Million Out-of-State Tuition Waivers (2012-2013)
– Total Tuition Waived By Institution: $55,000 to $15.8 Million
– Approximately 40% of Tuition Dollars Waived at GT, UGA and GA State
– Columbus State University – Highest Number of Waivers (Military)
• Over 22,387 Waivers (one semester) Awarded to 9,456 Students
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Out-of-State Tuition Waivers
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
From the Audit Report:
“It is important to understand the value of out-of-state tuition
waived does not necessarily represent foregone revenue to the
institutions. To determine the extent to which institutions did
truly forgo the out-of-state tuition revenue, we would need to
know whether (a) the student receiving a waiver would have
chosen to attend a USG institutions without the waiver, or, if
not, (b) there is another non-resident student that would
attend and pay the out-of-state tuition.”
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Out-of-State Tuition Waivers
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• 18 Separately Identified Out-of-State Tuition Waivers
– Designated in the Board of Regents Policy Manual 7.3.4
– No Out-of-State Waivers in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated
• Board Policy Manual Establishes Conditions for Waivers
• 16 Mandatory and 2 Discretionary Out-of-State Waivers
• Primary Groupings/Purposes:
– Military
– Economic Development
– Reciprocal/Border Counties/Employees
– Superior and International Students (Discretionary)
• Academics
• Athletics
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Out-of-State Tuition Waivers
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
MANDATORY: Student Meets Requirements/No Latitude
1) Academic Common Market (Reciprocal)
2) Border County Residents
3) Career Consular Officials
4) Competitive Economic Development Projects (Economic Dev.)
5) Economic Advantage (Economic Dev.)
6) Full-Time School Employees (TCSG, Georgia Public Schools)
7) Georgia-Based Corporations (Economic Dev.)
8) Georgia National Guard and U.S. Military Reservists (Military)
9) ICAPP Advantage Programs (Economic Dev.)
10) International and Domestic Exchange Programs (Reciprocal)
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Current Out-of-State Waivers
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
MANDATORY:
11) Medical/Dental Students and Interns (GRU)
12) Military Personnel (Military)
13) Non-Resident Students
14) Recently Separated Military Service Personnel (Military)
15) University System Employees
16) Vocational Rehabilitation Waiver
DISCRETIONARY: Criteria Defined by Institution
17) International and Superior Out-of-State Students
18) Research University Graduate Students (Research Institutions)
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Current Out-of-State Waivers
Out-of- State Tuition Waivers: 2012-2013
Semester Tuition
Waivers Waived
Mandatory
Waivers:
Military Personnel
4,230
$ 15,325,338
Border County Residents
2,783
10,165,095
Economic Advantage
1,633
8,431,244
Non
-Resident Students
1,496
6,437,543
International and Domestic Exchange Programs
642
5,137,609
Academic Common Market
418
2,909,832
Recently Separated Military Service Personnel
606
2,441,637
Full
-Time School Employees
411
2,101,608
University System Employees
741
1,695,947
Georgia National Guard and U.S. Military Reservists
165
831,282
Career Consular Officials
50
240,204
Georgia
-Based Corporations
25
153,246
Competitive Economic Development Projects
7
37,041
Vocational Rehabilitation Waiver
7
34,973
ICAPP Advantage Programs
0
0
Medical & Dental Students and Interns
0
0
Mandatory Subtotal (59% Total Waivers - 52.6% Tuition Waived)
13,214
$ 55,942,598
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Military Related
33%
Vocational
Rehab/Consular
1%
Economic
Development
Related 19%
Border Counties
18%
USG Employees
3%
Academic
Common
Market/Students
26%
Mandatory Waivers
$55,942,598 Total (2012-2013)
Out-of- State Tuition Waivers: 2012-2013
Semester Tuition
Waivers Waived
Discretionary
Waivers:
Superior Out
-of-State Students (Majority: Academics and Athletics)
5,688
$ 31,342,926
International Students (Subset of Superior Out-of-State Students)
2,999
15,005,468
Research University Graduate Students
486
4,102,936
Discretionary
Subtotal (41% Total Waivers -
47.4% Tuition Waived)
9,173
$ 50,451,329
TOTAL
– ALL WAIVERS
22,387
$106,393,928
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Research
University
Graduate
Students
8%
Superior/
International
Students
92%
Discretionary Waivers
$50,451,329 Total (2012-2013)
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International
21.9%
Multiple Factors
10.8%
Academics
30.0%
Athletics
25.7%
Other
6.9%
Special
Programs
2.9%
Financial Need
1.7%
Superior and International Student Waivers
$46,348,394 Total (2012-2013)
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• Superior and International Out-of-State Students:
– Academic Ability ($16.3 Million Waived): High GPA, Scholarships
and Fellowships
– Student Athletes ($11.6 Million Waived): Participation in Institution
Athletics
– International Diversity ($9.3 Million Waived): International Education
and Cultural Diversity
– Specialty Programs ($1.3 Million Waived): Special Skills (Such as
Art, Music, etc.) and Special Programs for Veterans
– Financial-Need ($769K Waived): Financial Hardship
– Multiple Factors ($3.8 Million Waived): Combination of Above
– Other ($3.2 Million Waived): Unidentified – 7% of Superior Waivers
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Superior Out-of-State
Student Waivers
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• Requirements for Superior Waivers Not Defined in Board Policy
– Academics
– Athletics
– Other Talents
• Each Institution Develops Own Criteria
• Superior Waivers are Limited:
– Limit of 4% at Research Institutions
– Limit of 2% at All Other Institutions
• Most Institutions Do Not Use All Allowable Superior Waivers
– Actual Superior Awards 8,687 (57.4%) of 15,112 Maximum
– Total Awards of $46.3 Million vs. $110.6 Million Maximum
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Superior Out-of-State
Student Waivers
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• Audit Report Reviewed Alabama, Florida, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia
• Most States Have Same or Similar Waivers:
– Military Waivers
– Reciprocal/Border County Waivers
– Academic Common Market
• Approximately Half of the States:
– Economic Development Waivers
– Employee Waivers
• USG Unique Waivers (GRU, ICAPP and Vocational Rehab)
• Other States: Some Waivers in Policy and Some in Law
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Other States
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• Improve Reliability of Waiver Data
– Discrepancies Between System Total Waivers and Institution Data
– Some Waivers Coded as “Other”
• Need Clear Oversight and Designation as to Who Approves
Discretionary Out-of-State Waivers at Each Institution
• Consider a Study of Effectiveness of Out-of-State Waivers
• Establish Some Criteria/Standards for Awarding Superior
Student Out-of-State Waivers
– GPAs and SAT Scores Do Not Always Support “Highly Qualified”
– Criteria Will Provide for Consistency
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Audit Observations
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• Organize/Group Waivers By Category and Improve Data Quality
• Eliminate the ICAPP Advantage waiver
• Combine the remaining 17 waivers into 8 waivers:
– Combine five economic development waivers into one “Economic
Development” waiver
– Combine two employee-related (one for USG and for TCSG/teachers)
waivers into one “Employee” waiver
– Combine three military-related waivers into one “Military” waiver
– Combine two reciprocal waivers (Academic Common Market and
exchange programs) into one “Reciprocal” waiver
– Combine the R1 graduate student waiver and medical/dental residents and
interns waiver into “Research University Graduate Students” waiver.
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Potential Policy Revisions
(For Board Discussion)
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• How should International and Superior Student Out-of-
State Waivers be used by the System and Institutions?
• Should waivers be apportioned and/or limited between
academics, athletics, international students, financial need
and other categories?
• Should quantitative criteria (tied to admissions standards,
e.g., Freshman Index, GPAs, etc.) be added to the
International and Superior Out-of-State Student Waiver
policy?
• How to phase-in any policy change(s) to avoid harming
any current student granted an out-of-state waiver?
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Superior Waiver
Policy Questions
(For Board Discussion)
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
• Add quantitative criteria (tied to admissions standards, e.g.,
Freshman Index, GPAs, etc.) to the International and
Superior Out-of-State Student Waiver
– Students awarded waiver demonstrate superior performance as reflected
by “academic success, professional achievement, or other noteworthy
accomplishments” … and as documented in the institutional policy.
– Notwithstanding the first bullet, recipients of this waiver shall minimally
score within the top quartile of the admissions criteria applicable to that
student’s program. For general admission, this would likely mean the
Freshman Index score, etc. while for a graduate program it could mean the
GRE, GMAT, etc.
– The institution would define how to implement this policy given these
criteria but would be bound by the top quartile rule unless they obtain
approval for an alternative method from the USG Chief Academic Officer.
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Potential Policy Revisions
(For Board Discussion)
“Creating A More Educated Georgia”
Board of Regents
University System of Georgia
Out-of-State Tuition Waivers
Audit Review and Policy Revisions
January 8, 2014
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