94 percent of first-time freshmen from the WICHE states were enrolled in their home state in 1992-93, comparable to figures from 1979-80.

  First-time freshmen in the West are more likely to stay at home to complete their education than first-time freshmen in the U.S. as a whole.

  Of those who migrated from a WICHE state in 1992-93, 54 percent remained in the region¹.

  Students who migrate within the region tend to enroll in public institutions of higher education, particularly research and doctoral institutions. One-third of all interstate migrants attending public institutions nationally were enrolled in research and doctoral institutions in 1992-93.

  Only 2 percent of interstate migrants attending public institutions enrolled in baccalaureate/liberal arts institutions.

Migration patterns vary significantly among the western states:

In 1992-93 North Dakota enrolled the largest percentage of nonresidents in the region (43.9 percent of first-time freshmen), followed by Idaho. In comparison, only 9 percent of students enrolled in California in 1992-93 were nonresidents (Figure 1).

Among WICHE states, Alaska sends the largest proportion of its residents outside the state for postsecondary education. More than one-half of first-time freshmen who list their residence as Alaska were enrolled in other states in 1992-93.

At the other end of the spectrum, fewer than 10 percent of first-time freshmen from Arizona, California, Utah, and Washington enrolled out-of-state.

Data on net migration indicate that most WICHE states either exported more students or imported fewer students in 1992 than they did in 1979 (Figure 2).

California and Nevada shifted from net importers to net exporters of college students between 1979 and 1992. In 1979, California imported 14,692 more students than it exported; in 1992, it exported 3,237 more students than it imported. In contrast, North Dakota had a net export of 1,340 students in 1979 and a net import of 1,318 in 1992 (Figure 2).

Seven states (AZ, CO, ID, OR, SD, UT, WA) remained net importers, but six of them (all but Colorado) had a lower net in-migration rate in 1992 than in 1979. For example, Arizona imported 5,561 more students than it exported in 1979; in 1992, it imported only 2,579 more students than it exported. Five states (AK, HI, MT, NM, WY) consistently have been net exporters of college students, but the pace of out-migration diminished in Alaska, Montana, and New Mexico (Figure 2).