LINCOLN, NEB. ? A University of Nebraska regent says cutting out-of-state tuition may be a way to attract more students and more money to offset state aid declines for the NU system.

Regent Kent Schroeder of Kearney thinks that could be an answer to the challenge from state Sen. Kermit Brashear, who recently demanded the Board of Regents find creative ways to fund NU as state aid declines.

Schroeder said offering in-state tuition rates to students from Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and South Dakota would increase declining enrollment. And, he said, it would help solve NU’s ongoing budget crisis.

A resulting jump in enrollment may also strengthen the state’s business community, he said. Opponents of the idea, however, claim the additional out-of-state students would leave Nebraska after graduation.

“I think it’s an idea that has merit,” Schroeder said. “I think we’ll seriously consider this next year.”

Out-of-state students currently pay $381 per credit hour. A non-Nebraskan student enrolled in 30 credit hours will pay a $12,422 tuition and fees bill.

In-state students pay $4,839 for the same 30 credit hours.

Schroeder thinks charging a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student from western Iowa three times as much as one from western Nebraska makes little sense. It makes even less sense when UNL is far from full, he said.

“We’ve got the capacity,” Schroeder said. “If you’ve got a classroom with 15 students, and a professor can handle 20, why not bring in that extra five?”

Regent Randy Ferlic of Omaha agrees the NU system’s four schools can and should attract more students, but he opposes attracting out-of-state students by cutting tuition.

That move would allow Kansas students to get an education on Nebraska’s dime, he said. Instead, Ferlic said, the university needs to grow stronger, and then advertise that strength.

“They’re not going to come to Nebraska unless we have quality programs,” he said. “And we do have some quality programs, but they aren’t necessarily well-known.”

The Board of Regents has yet to discuss the issue of luring new students, but Schroeder is talking with other regents about his plan and will soon compile information on similar plans at other schools.

He and NU President L. Dennis Smith mentioned the idea to Brashear of Omaha and Sen. David Landis of Lincoln during the regents’ December meeting.

Schroeder hopes the proposal moves closer to reality in 2004. He envisions a program similar to the Nebraska Legacy Scholarship, which began this fall.

The legacy program allows sons and daughters of NU alumni who live outside Nebraska to attend UNL, or Kearney and Omaha campuses at Omaha at in-state rates.