I think there are three explanations: (a) we don't have a lot of prestigious public colleges. There is Rutgers, of course, but aside from Rowan, TCNJ and Montclair, we don't have many others. So NJ students look out-of-state if they want a good school other than Rutgers. And these schools (other than Rutgers) are not that attractive to out-of-staters. (b) Rutgers and the other state schools here have resisted taking many OOS students. I think there is a simple explanation: the state legislature would be very upset if we did. The state's legislators don't want to get letters from home complaining that their kid didn't get into Rutgers because of OOS students. (c) as others have noted above, many high school seniors and their parents see nothing special in going to Rutgers. Good students -- the ones we want -- are particularly likely to think this way.