SEMO TUITION LOWEST IN STATE; ROOM, BOARD COSTS LESS ELSEWHERE

It's going to take six years, but Melvin Schott is determined to graduate from college, and so far he's paid the bills himself.

"It's really been a struggle for me," Schott said. "I'm not eligible for any financial aid. But I knew I'd have to go into debt. I'm hoping that when I get out I get a good enough job to pay for it all."

Schott, a senior communications major from New Hamburg, said he chose Southeast Missouri State University because it is close to home.

But despite tuition hikes, he said the university offers a good education for the money.

"Tuition hikes really put me in a bind," he said. "I just got my bill for this semester, and it's about $200 more than I expected. But everybody complains when tuition goes up. I think you can get a pretty good education here for the cost."

Finding the best buy in a college education was the subject of a study published this month in Money magazine. Figures in the study back up Schott's claim that Southeast is a good buy.

Southeast's tuition is the lowest in the state, but room and board costs are slightly higher at Southeast than most other state and regional universities.

Southeast's tuition, at $3,380, is close to half the cost of tuition at the University of Missouri.

That's good news for Schott, who like many other students works part or full time while attending college.

"That's why it's taken me so long to get through," he said. "I usually take only 12 hours a semester so I can still have time to work 20 or 30 hours a week. There have been semesters where I've stayed out to work full time so I could afford to go back."

Tuition at other state institutions ranges from $7,792 at the University of Missouri-Rolla, to $3,384 at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield.

At nearby Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, tuition is $6,156. Murray State University in Kentucky also has higher tuition than Southeast, at $4,130.

Thirty-four percent of students at Southeast graduate in five years, while only 31 percent do at Southwest. At Northeast Missouri State University, 60 percent of students graduate in five years.

Student-faculty ratio was also tabulated in the study. Southeast's 24-1 ratio was the second highest in the state, next to 27-1 at Southwest. Other ratios ranged from a low of 10-1 at the University of Missouri-Columbia to 19-1 at Northwest and Central Missouri State.

Schott said he's found the ratio of students to faculty is highest in freshman and sophomore-level classes.

"I've noticed that once you get into the upper classes junior and senior level usually there are not more than 15 or 16 students in a class. I think that's pretty good," he said.

Schott said he thinks the cost of a college education has become a bigger concern for students in the past several years. Fewer parents are footing the bill and scholarships are harder to get. Schott said receiving a $500 scholarship his freshman year from the New Hamburg Jaycees helped with tuition that first year. But since then he's had to rely on the salary he makes as a repairman and on student loans.

"I knew it was going to be hard, but paying for college is something I want to do," he said. "My sister graduated seven or eight years ago, and she just paid off her college debt."

Schott plans to graduate in May.