The majority of our alums are concentrated in 3 areas, Richmond, Tidewater and Northern VA. Obviously we get a lot of support from the Valley as well, but some of that local support is not necessarily from alums. Our recruiting outside of VA historically has been in the NE corridor from MD up through CT. We have less out of state student enrollment than we used to (we are down from 29% to 25%, projected to drop to 22%) due to pressure from the VA General Assembly to open more spots for VA students. Ironically at the same time we've been pressured to shrink, UVA has grown their out of state enrollment to 35% (projected to 39%).
As for student fees, on paper they look high and so does our athletic budget. Reality is it's creative accounting, in a comparison of 14 public universities in VA JMU is currently 10th in total costs. We'll take an increase of $1,000 per year in each of the next 2 years, but that increase only moves us to 9th in total costs. My oldest is a SO at JMU, her costs are $5,000 per year less than my youngest who will be enrolling in Longwood's Nursing program next fall. As a parent, I always looked at total cost when determining value and not necessarily a break-out of how those costs were allocated. The athletic budget is also bloated by costs for things like the band, and my understanding it there is also debt servicing for the recent construction of Bridgeforth, our new lacrosse/soccer facility, our new baseball/softball facility, etc.