Out-of-state and international students pay almost double the tuition rates of in-state students. An increase in this population at MSU means a larger budget for the university, granting it the opportunity to provide more for its students. It also will partially offset the recent state and federal funding cuts for higher education.

In addition to a larger budget, the increase in international and out-of-state students also shows MSU is gaining more of an international profile, which helps the university’s vision of moving to a world grant university.

MSU is going beyond gaining the attention of only students in the state of Michigan and is becoming more well-known beyond the Midwest, causing an increase in students from across the U.S. and around the world.

Although the number of international and out-of-state students is increasing, MSU has continued to gain a great majority of its students from Michigan. In the fall of 2011, more than 75 percent of the students enrolled at MSU were in-state students.

Yet this statistic also illustrates that one in four students on campus are either international or from out of state, proving the campus’ population remains diverse in geographic backgrounds.

A potential problem with allowing such a vast amount of students into MSU’s population is the lack of comfortable housing for students living on campus. Many residence halls were required to provide some rooms with three students, known as transitional housing.

As the student population continues to remain high, transitional housing will continue in residence halls. In an effort to combat this issue, the university is requiring resident mentors to have a roommate starting in fall 2012. The new requirement is aimed to be temporary and was put in place to decrease the number of transitional rooms next fall by almost 1,000.

Putting this burden on incoming freshmen and resident mentors is unappealing to potential students. It inconveniences students, but it might be worth the hassle to be put in a transitional room when students have the comfort of knowing they attend a higher-profile university. That said, housing is a definite issue the university needs to be mindful of in the future.

Despite these issues, it’s encouraging to see an increase in out-of-state and international students. Knowing students across the U.S. and the world are choosing MSU in greater numbers than ever before reveals a positive future for our university and its reputation.