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students at UH Manoa Campus Center

A total of 2,600 out-of-state students attended four University of Hawaiʻi campuses via a tuition-discount exchange program that grew significantly in 2017–18. The bulk of them, 1,500, enrolled at UH Mānoa from California. UH Mānoa also had 238 students from Washington State and 170 from Colorado, while UH Hilo had 172 students from California.

A report from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) also said that 2,491 Hawaiʻi residents saved $23.4 million through the program across 15 Western states and one U.S. territory.

These programs also help our colleges and universities draw students from other states, which diversifies the educational experience for our local students while providing additional revenue for our campuses and communities.
—David Lassner

WICHE’s discount-tuition programs broaden the affordable higher education options for our residents who want to study out of state,” said UH President and WICHE commissioner David Lassner. The report says 357 Hawaiʻi residents chose the University of Nevada Las Vegas while 314 chose Northern Arizona University.

“These programs also help our colleges and universities draw students from other states, which diversifies the educational experience for our local students while providing additional revenue for our campuses and communities,” Lassner said.

WICHE, the country’s largest interstate higher education tuition-discount program said 423,240 students saved more than $403 million this school year—up 7 percent from the previous year—on three programs it manages.

WICHE said its most popular program, the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), saw 40,094 students save $365.4 million this year on public associate’s or bachelor’s degree programs in the U.S. West. Through the WUE program, students enroll in one of 160 participant colleges or universities outside their home state and pay no more than 150 percent of that institution’s resident-tuition rate. Since nonresident tuition can cost 300 percent (or more) of resident rates, the WUE discount saves students $9,000 a year on average.

See the full report at the WICHE website.

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