Anjali Forber-Pratt, junior in ALS and resident of Massachusetts, knows she pays far more for tuition than an Illinois resident does. However, she also knows it would be the same if she went to any other school.

“I guess my tuition is a little high, but other schools are comparable,” Forber-Pratt said. “If I were going to an out-of-state school closer to home, I’d actually pay more than I do here.”

Higher out-of-state tuition rates have become standard practices at most public universities, said Michele Thompson, secretary of the University Board of Trustees. Most schools, the University included, require non-residents to pay roughly three times what residents pay.

“It’s conventional among most universities,” Thompson said. “That 3-to-1 ratio is very common.”

Thompson said the reason for the different rates stems from the fact that schools like the University are publicly funded.

“The assumption was if the person coming here was out of state, they weren’t paying any of the taxes that help pay for the school,” she said. “Their tuition would be the real cost of their education. The state doesn’t have to pay for out-of-state students.”

Randy Kangas, assistant vice president for planning and budget, said that the 3-to-1 ratio has been a long-standing guideline for schools.

“It goes back to the 1970s, when the Carnegie Foundation recommended tuition be set at about one-third the cost of instruction, with the government picking up the other two-thirds,” Kangas said. “That ratio was more of a philosophy than any sort of numerical, empirical data they had, though.”

However, the ratio has not remained constant, Kangas said.

“In the 1990s and early 2000s, we’d gotten a little away from that 3-to-1 ratio,” he said. “Recently, the new governor pointed out that this was a good way to raise revenues for higher education, so we raised out-of-state tuition by $2,000 to get it back to that ratio.”

Fees, however, are usually more equal between residents and non-residents, Kangas said.

“Fees are pretty much the same, since they pay for specific things, like health services or recreation,” he said.

Thompson said the same philosophy applies to international students, but explained that they sometimes have more options to pay for the higher rates.

“Many of our international students are grad students,” she said. “A large portion of those are teaching assistants or research assistants. Part of that assistanceship is helping pay for their tuition.”

Thompson also said international students may receive financial help from their native government or simply have a personal situation that can afford higher rates.

Some U.S. residents paying out-of-state tuition are eligible for financial aid or scholarships, but many simply have to figure out how to make ends meet.

“I just do the best I can do with the money I’ve got,” Forber-Pratt said.

“Financial aid is kind of hard to get depending on your income,” said Rob Wu, senior in engineering and resident of New York. “So I just have to do what I can on my own.”

Wu said, however, that he understands why he has to pay more.

“Of course I think it’s all right because this is a state school,” he said.