State schools rejecting more Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) - The recession is causing a dramatic increase in applications at several state universities.

While that may sound like good news, it hasn't been positive for Hoosier students who are being rejected from the schools of their choice.

In the past ten years, Indiana University and Purdue have been shutting out Hoosier students and accepting high paying out of state students.

Ashley Strube, a senior at Decatur Central was crushed when she was rejected by the only university she's ever wanted to attend, Indiana University Bloomington.

Ashley said, "And then not getting in and just feeling like, 'Why won't you accept me?'"

Ashley's mom, Susan Strube, said, "It was almost like a slap in the face."

Both Ashley's dad and mom are IU grads. But those alumni roots didn't get Ashley automatic admittance to the landmark IU sample gates.

Decatur Central Assistant Principal Cathy Tooley wonders why Ashley's own hard work wasn't enough.

"She's active in her church. She's in National Honor Society, top 10% of her class, so I just wish someone would please tell me, what did Ashley Strube not do? So that I can help somebody else never feel this pain again," said Tooley.

24-Hour News 8 took Ashley's transcript to IU President Michael McRobbie.

Her transcript shows that she's ranked 24 out of 283 in her class, so she is in the top 10%. Her GPA is 3.517.

President McRobbie said, "Obviously I can't comment on that case. If you want to give me the details, if you have them there we'll have them looked at and see if there's any grounds to have her case reconsidered."

Ray Richardson is a former Indiana University trustee and former state representative. He believes IU Bloomington and Purdue West Lafayette are dismissing local students like Ashley for one reason: money.

News 8 found the number of in-state undergraduate students at IU Bloomington has dropped 10% since 1998, to just over 60%. The number of in-state undergraduates at Purdue West Lafayette has also dropped about 10%, to 65%.

"Indiana University is a public university. They ought to act like one," said Richardson.

The difference in tuition is significant between in-state and out-of-state students. Out-of-state students at Purdue West Lafayette pay almost three times the tuition as in-state students. It's the same situation in Bloomington where in-state tuition was about a third that of out-of-state kids.

"So IU has seen an opportunity to make some real serious money here and they jumped at it. That would be what you would expect out of a private corporation, not out of a public institution," said Richardson.

President McRobbie attributes the increase in out-of-state students to the need for global and national diversity. But, he concedes money is a reason too.

"The out-of-state students are not pushing anybody out," said McRobbie.

McRobbie said the state reimburses IU Bloomington for approximately 20,000 Hoosier students a year, which means tuition from out-of-state students actually subsidizes some in-state students.

Purdue receives the same subsidies. News 8 tried to talk with Purdue President France Cordova, but she cancelled two scheduled interviews.

News 8 e-mailed our questions to Purdue Chief Financial Officer James Almond.

When asked about the drop in in-state students on the West Lafayette campus he said, "Purdue West Lafayette's campus consistently enrolled over 20,500 undergraduates from Indiana. Purdue on a system-wide basis offered admissions to all but 100 of applicants this school year."

Indiana University could not comment specifically on Ashley's case for confidentiality reasons. But her SAT score appears to be the reason she was rejected.

24 Hour News 8 will have more on Ashley's story Monday night at 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.  Also, hear from one of Indiana's most powerful legislators, House Speaker Patrick Bauer. See his reaction to the numbers.