Leaders at the University of North Texas announced a major cut to tuition costs for students from Oklahoma.
Starting in the fall of this year, Oklahomans pursuing a bachelor's degree at the Denton-based University will pay a cost of $5,602.70 per 15 credit semester; a discount of almost half their normal rate.
Until now, Oklahoma residents have paid the out-of-state tuition rate at UNT which cost students $10,282.70 per semester; compared to the in-state rate of about $4,800 Texas residents pay.
For a school that's only about 40 miles away from the state, it seems that's a bit more than most are willing to pay.
Executive Director of Admissions Dr. Rebecca Lothringer said her office averages about 2,000 requests from Oklahomans and 300 formal applications for admission every year, but many semesters they'll end up bringing in as few as 7 students to actually enroll.
"We'd say, 'what do you think? Are you going to be able to enroll at UNT?' and almost 100 percent the reason was: the tuition is so much higher," said Lothringer.
Currently, she estimates only a little more than 100 UNT students are from the Sooner State compared to the booming spring semester enrollment of 34,163 they announced earlier this week.
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UNT President Dr. Neal Smatresk said college recruitment between Texas and Oklahoma is a competitive landscape in which he often notes more students end up going north.
"For years Texas has been a net exporter of students to Oklahoma," said Dr. Smatresk.
However Smatresk hopes the change will give UNT an edge and, over time give them a significant increase in enrollment from the state.
"With in-state law, we're actually allowed to modify the tuition rate of any state that's within a 100 miles of our boarder," said Smatresk hoping the move will also help add to the educated job candidates in the state. "We're going to have to make sure that not only first generation students in Texas get a great education at UNT we're going to have to make sure we're attracting students from around the state and around the world. This is one more way to do it to help ensure a prosperous future for our state."
