Quote:
Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna
That helps, but the fact that Georgia, Florida and other states offer their students free tuition is one of the big reasons.
It's great that they get free tuition (paid for by lotteries), but that means the in-state schools now have their choice of students...thus they can be pickier about the GPAs they'll accept.
Which means they fill up their freshman classes with higher-achieving students...leaving those with lower grades (and sometimes only slightly lower) out in the cold, and forced to attend an out-of-state school unless they want to go the private school route.
At the same time, UA has been offering free full rides to National Merit finalists, and other generous scholarships to high-achieving students. The newer dorms appeal to freshmen...nice recreation centers...honors college...and so on.
Add to all that - a sluggish economy means fewer jobs, so more people staying in school longer.
In the long run, I doubt the growth will continue. Things will slow down eventually.
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From my time as an SAT prep tutor in Atlanta, I can testify about the impact the hope scholarship has had on how difficult it has become to get into UGA. Many of my students listed Auburn and Alabama as their target schools. Similar cultures to UGA, etc.