State lawmakers told Penn State they are hesitant to increase appropriations for the university's medical school if out-of-state students continue to outnumber in-state students.

Penn State has requested an additional $963,000 for 2007-08. Last year, Hershey Medical Center received an allocation of $14,157,000.

Forty-six percent of students in the Penn State College of Medicine are from Pennsylvania, as compared to 36 percent at the University of Pittsburgh and 60 percent at Temple University.

College of Medicine spokeswoman Megan Manlove said in 2006, about 1,423 Pennsylvanians applied to medical school in the state.

About 1,100 of those applied to Penn State, she said.

Manlove said 18 percent of the Hershey Medical Center's applicants lived in Pennsylvania, compared to 82 percent that applied from out of state. About a third of Pennsylvania residents who applied for the 2006-07 year were enrolled, as compared to about a tenth of out-of-state applicants.

"You need to look at the data of who is applying for a medical degree and look at the numbers of people we accept into the program," she said. "The data bears out that we are serving our Pennsylvania students."

Manlove said Penn State's unique setting and atmosphere makes it attractive to out-of-state students.

"It's a smaller school, a smaller town, a more suburban campus," she said. "A lot of medical schools are in big, urban metropolis centers ... people have liked the small class size, our low student-faculty ratio, [and] you've got the quality of life in terms of the farm fields, the rural lifestyle."

Richard Cyr, assistant head for undergraduate affairs in the biology department, said he hadn't seen the statistics but believed many Penn State undergraduates are considering Pennsylvania medical schools.

Eryn Jelesiewicz, spokeswoman for Temple University's health and science center, said Temple Medical School's in-state student enrollment, the highest among the state-related universities, is because of the university's commitment to "meeting the needs of students in Pennsylvania."

"Our programs are very attractive to those competitive students who have a number of options," Jelesiewicz said. "We're pleased to play an important part in educating future doctors in our commonwealth."

Penn State President Graham Spanier indicated to legislators that an increasing number of Hershey Medical Center graduates are staying in Pennsylvania to complete their residency.

Manlove said between 37 percent and 40 percent stay to work in Pennsylvania.

The College of Medicine has also seen a recent boom in admissions, with its class size increasing 20 percent in the last four years.

"We are now at our limit," Manlove said. "We have no more room to expand."

She added, however, that both Penn State's popularity and the rush of out-of-state students are contributing to the medical center's reputation, fueling enthusiasm for future expansions to the College of Medicine.

"We're a young institution," she said. "I think that people are starting to see us as a national leader."