SEMO GIVES ILLINOIS TUITION BREAK; STUDENTS WILL PAY ABOUT $2,500 LESS PER YEAR

Southeast Missouri State University hopes to recruit more Illinois students by offering a tuition break.

The Cape Girardeau school announced Friday it will offer a tuition break to eligible students in 35 Illinois counties beginning this fall. The area covers all of Southern Illinois and extends to the Springfield area to the north.

The tuition break will come in the form of a Regional Achievement Award. Southeast plans to provide the break to a maximum of 250 students for the 1999-2000 academic year.

The award can be renewed for any eligible undergraduate up to a total of 128 hours of college course work. In addition, the tuition break would be offered to as many as 250 new students each year.

"We would never have more than 1,000 students on the program," said Jay Goff, Southeast director of admissions.

Eligible students will receive a credit for the difference between incidental fees for Missouri and out-of-state students. The difference is about $2,500 a year.

Tuition or incidental fees amount to $2,889 a year for Missouri residents taking 30 credit hours. Out-of-state students pay $5,379 for the same number of credit hours.

Southeast officials said the higher out-of-state tuition has kept many Southern Illinois residents from attending the Missouri school.

"We have seen Arkansas State, Murray (Ky.) State and Southern Illinois University embrace the idea of outreach for students in Missouri," said Goff. "This is our first step at embracing the concept of outreach for students in Illinois and in following suit with what other schools are already doing," he said.

He said the tuition credit program will be reviewed annually. The pilot program could be revised or expanded in future years, Goff said.

The tuition credit plan was approved late last year by Southeast's Budget Review Committee and the university administration.

Illinois students, parents, teachers and school counselors have discussed the need for a tuition break for a decade, said Goff.

The financial awards will be made to eligible high school graduates and transfer students from community colleges.

The students have to take at least 24 credit hours of courses a year at Southeast.

Nashville, Ill., High School principal Doug Aschermann welcomed the tuition break. "This levels the playing field," he said. "It renews our confidence in Southeast's commitment to Southern Illinois."

Aschermann said many Illinois students have attended Murray State rather than Southeast because of the cost difference.

Terry Crain, associate dean of services at John A. Logan College at Ullin, Ill., said the award also provides a greater incentive for students from Illinois community colleges to transfer to Southeast.

Students from the 35 Illinois counties must meet certain academic standards to receive the tuition credit. The tuition credits will be awarded to the first 200 high school graduates who qualify and are registered before June 1.

The students must live in campus residence halls during the fall and spring semesters of their first two years at Southeast.

As many as 50 Regional Achievement awards will be offered to students who transfer to Southeast from community colleges in the Illinois region. Those tuition credits also will be awarded on a first-registered, first-served basis.

The transfer students must meet Southeast's residence hall requirements. High school graduates must have completed the university's college prep high school curriculum, score 21 or higher on the ACT or 990 or higher on the SAT exam, and have a minimum 2.75 grade-point average.

Transfer students must have completed at least 24 hours of credit. They must have at least a 2.75 or a 3.0 grade-point average, depending on certain academic program requirements.

Goff said one reason for limiting the number of Regional Achievement awards is to be certain that the university has class space for its Missouri students.

"By limiting the program, we can guarantee we have enough space for everyone," said Goff.

"Since we don't have lecture halls, we can't just open another class with 300 students and pack it all in," he said.