Frustrated by the university's reputation in Houston, Texas Southern University president John Rudley is aggressively courting students from out of state. "A lot of local kids, had such a negative opinion of Texas Southern," said Rudley. "I couldn't get them to come here."
TSU already had a pipeline of sorts from California and Louisiana, which together sent almost 500 students to TSU last fall. Rudley created another in Benton Harbor, where he was a high school basketball star and where he still has family.
Many of the schools, including Texas Southern, have relatively low admission standards as part of a commitment to make higher education more accessible.
Ultimately, Rudley said he wants 25 percent of TSU's enrollment to come from out-of-state and international students. Currently, it's 17 percent.
