Non‐resident Tuition and Enrollment in Higher Education: Implications for Tuition Pricing

Abstract

Abstract This paper provides evidence on the factors that influence the non‐resident enrollment percentage for public and private institutes of higher education (IHEs). We find a significant positive correlation between the enrollment percentage and tuition for private IHEs and no significance for public IHEs. Further investigation reveals that the highest‐priced public and private IHEs generally attract the highest percentage of non‐resident students. This suggests that the more costly IHEs, especially private, may enjoy a special cache that allows them more latitude in setting non‐resident tuition. The non‐resident enrollment percentage is not appreciably different across a wide range of tuition levels for both IHE types, indicating that these IHEs might be able to maintain their non‐resident enrollment percentage levels with marginal tuition increases.