Out-of-state scholarship recipients will receive in-state tuition rates

Incoming out-of-state students will have the opportunity to attend UNA at the cost of in-state tuition beginning fall 2015.

“When we hit the travel road last fall, we started hearing about this House Bill 424,” said Kim Mauldin, director of the Office of Admission. “UNA has instituted part of it, with regards to veterans but we had not instituted the out-of-state part.”

The Alabama legislature passed House Bill 424 in May 2013.

“There were two different pieces in the legislation,” said Director of Student Financial Services Ben Baker. “Our board of trustees initially only approved that we would only adopt (veterans) portion that pertained to the military personnel. Then at our June 2014 board of trustees meeting we adopted the other portion.”

The second half of the bill allows incoming out-of-state students who receive an institutional scholarship to pay in-state tuition, he said.

“At the time the board did this in June, we were within two months away from being ready for fall 2014. We didn’t have time to advertise it, publicize it or try to recruit students,” he said.

The bill was created to directly benefit military personnel and out-of-state students who want to attend a public university in Alabama, he said.

“It may take us a while to get the word out, but we think because of where we’re located in Alabama, it will open up numerous doors in Tennessee and it also has possibilities in Mississippi,” Mauldin said.

She said word-of-mouth will carry the bill more than anything else.

Sophomore Caroline Hudson, an Alabama native, said she is excited about the new enrollment opportunities the bill’s enactment will bring.

“It’s great more students will be able to come to school at UNA with the money issue being better dealt with,” Hudson said.

Current students can also qualify for the in-state tuition rate, but not as easily as new students, Baker said.

“It was a really tough process for me to get in-state (tuition),” said sophomore Carson Hagood. “I had to go through a lot of loops.”

Baker said current students must meet criteria including, but not limited to, being a registered voter in the state, having an Alabama driver’s license, having their cars registered in Alabama and paying state income taxes.