Boise State is home to many students coming in from all over the country, particularly from the Golden State — California.
Kat Everard, an admissions counselor at Boise State, works exclusively with the California students coming to Boise State. Everard believes tuition at Boise State plays a big role.
“The cost of school is definitely the reason why most students come here,” Everard said.
Everard also gave suggestions to specific scholarships that have helped out-of-state students in choosing Boise State as a possible school to attend.
Photo by Ashley L. Clark | The Arbiter
“The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) scholarship kinda drags them in, and then they fall in love with the campus. The city is young, fun, beautiful and affordable,” Everard said.
According to Everard, a lot of California students are either not able to afford higher education in California, or unable to get into the schools in the state.
The average in-state tuition for California is about $15,000, without room and board, and the other added costs like textbooks, meal plans and extracurriculars, according to Everard. While Boise State’s out-of-state tuition is $24,988, the WUE scholarship lowers tuition by about $12,800.
This brings tuition costs lower than that of a California school and close to Idaho’s in-state tuition, making Boise State a more affordable option for California students.
Lindsey Brown, a junior education major from southern California, loves Boise State and Idaho’s weather.
“It’s a different kind of beautiful here in Boise, and we get all four seasons where we don’t get that in California,” Brown said. “As much as I love the heat and the sun, there is just something so special about getting to see the leaves fall in autumn, snow in winter, and beautiful days in the spring and summer”
Brown also enjoys the safety and cleanliness of Boise State and the surrounding area.
While Brown was most enamored with the weather of Boise, another student sought out other amenities Boise had to offer.
Matt Potter, a freshman business administration major from Vista, California, liked the convenience of lower tuition, along with several other factors.
“Growing up in California I felt the need to attend a university in a state that I was not accustomed to in order to grow my life experiences,” Potter said.
Both students felt the need to reach beyond what they are used to, and that included getting out of California.
However, students are not the only people from California moving north, as 20,800 people from California migrated to Idaho in 2018, according to estimates of the census obtained by the Idaho Statesman. That number has only grown during the pandemic because Idaho has seen the largest net gain in population than any other state.
“California students leave the state of California for a variety of reasons, education in California is very competitive, and Boise State is a great out-of-state option,” Everard said. “It is a great college that will give them the four years education they need, with a good degree, that is worth it for their money.”
