Historically Black Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena has announced that it will offer in-state tuition rates to all out-of-state students. At the present time, in-state students pay $5,494 annually for tuition. Students from outside of Mississippi have a tuition bill of $13,734. In the fall semester, 319 of the university’s 2,500 students lived in states other than Mississippi. Some of the current out-of-state students are on athletic scholarships and don’t pay their own tuition.
The university stated that it is reducing tuition for out-of-state students to increase enrollments. The university estimates that if they can increase enrollments by 110 students, it can cover the lost revenue from the lower tuition fees. The school hopes that it can actually increase tuition revenue by gaining more out-of-state students. It has set a target of an additional 215 out-of-state students by 2018.
