When I was at UNT (Denton Texas) in the 1980’s state tuition was $4.00 per hour and with student fees, the total tuition for an “In State” student was about $500 to $700 per semester depending upon laps and other student use fees.
At the time Texas out-of-state tuition was cheaper than many in-state tuition costs for small upper midwest places. So there were a fair number of students in Denton from Wyoming, North and South Dakota and Nebraska.
THe issue is to control the cost and maintain standards.