BEAT THE BUBBLE.

Forbes publishes a suggestion for parents who might want to reduce college expenses.

One of best-kept secrets in college admissions this coming year is that many top state universities will be admitting more out-of-state applicants than they ever have.

This opens up a whole new group of schools that were formerly much more difficult to get into.  We’re talking about great schools, sometimes lots more openings, and for a few campuses, slightly easier academic standards!

To some extent, the push for more out of state enrollments is a push for more revenue.

As states continue to weather the financial crisis, they are trimming state budgets.  And expenditures to their prestigious state-run universities have taken a hit.  Consequently, schools have consciously – and sometimes publicly – increased the number of higher-tuition-paying out-of-state students.

It's not necessarily a bad strategy.  Jay Mathews reminds readers that motivated students are able to thrive anywhere.

Want to avoid college debt? Don’t cut back on the time you spend at college. Instead, pick a school that does not cost so much. President Obama’s new nominee to be chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Alan Krueger, co-authored in 1999 a paper, “Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College,” showing that expensive big-name schools add little if any value to a college education. He and co-author Stacy Berg Dale demonstrated that the character traits that bring success — such as persistence and good humor — produce just as much income with a degree from Delaware State as one from Cornell.

Regular readers will recognize those conclusions as the Spielberg Effect.  Administrators at state universities, however, cannot simply expect greater student intake in the form of individuals that would previously have attended the state flagship.  A nonselective state university with a nonserious curriculum is likely to have problems retaining those students.