Frostburg State University to offer in-state tuition to out-of-state students

After a decade of declining enrollment, Western Maryland’s public university is offering a steep tuition discount to recruit out-of-state students.

Frostburg State University announced on Wednesday that undergraduate students with a permanent address in West Virginia, Pennsylvania or select counties in northern Virginia, eastern Ohio and southern New York will qualify for in-state tuition starting in fall 2027. The deal deepens discounts already available to some students in the region and broadens Frostburg’s footprint in mid-Atlantic Appalachia, which university leaders consider key to growth.

The move comes as regional public universities and small private colleges across the country prepare for a decline in the number of college students, a phenomenon known as the enrollment cliff. There are already 2.3 million fewer college students than there were in 2010, and a drop in the birth rate that began during the 2008 recession means the downward trend should continue.

Frostburg, which educates just under 3,500 undergraduate students, charges $7,414 for Maryland residents, $17,198 for out-of-staters within 120 miles of campus, and $23,306 for those farther out of state. The university will offer in-state rates more widely to remain competitive amid a shrinking pool of applicants, according to interim President Darlene Brannigan Smith.

The university sits in the Appalachian Highlands of rural Allegany County, and the surrounding region’s low population density and slow growth limit the pipeline for college-aged students. Seventy percent of people within a 120-mile radius of the university live outside of Maryland.

The decision to discount tuition for out-of-state students “directly responds to a 37% decline in in-state and regional undergraduate enrollment over the past decade,” as well as intensifying competition for students, according to a presentation Frostburg officials gave to University System of Maryland leaders last week.

Total undergraduate enrollment — including students from outside the state and region — at the university has declined by more than 27% since 2017, from 4,725 students to 3,436, according to data released by the state system. Graduate enrollment has declined at a slower rate: down about 6% since 2017, from 671 graduate students to 629.

Frostburg expanded its partnership with the Hunan University of Technology and Business in China last year in another effort to boost enrollment.

Last year, in response to its declining student population and a nearly $8 million deficit, Frostburg eliminated some teaching positions, closed buildings deemed underutilized, cut athletics funding and merged administrative departments.

Frostburg stands apart from its peers in the state’s public university system because of how much it competes in the multistate Appalachian market, Brannigan Smith said in a statement to The Banner.

“To remain competitive, FSU must expand its reach within the Appalachian region that we already serve, and the most effective way to do that is by enhancing our price competitiveness,” Brannigan Smith wrote, calling the tuition discount a “targeted, fiscally responsible approach.”

Enrollment modeling by Frostburg indicates that the university will reach break-even on the deal with an additional 50 full-time students. That’s about the number of students it has lost to institutions in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, according to the university’s presentation.

Frostburg is eliminating its “regional” tuition rate for non-Marylanders within 120 miles; they’re among the group who will qualify for the in-state rate. Students will still pay $3,138 in fees and $15,242 for housing and meals.

Enrollment growth, according to the interim president, will allow the university to stabilize tuition, fees, housing, dining and other auxiliary revenue streams.

“We estimate conservatively that we’ll see an initial increase of 50 undergraduate students in the first year, with additional growth in subsequent years,” Brannigan Smith said.

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