Community college

After months of study, planning for a community college in Cape Girardeau has taken another major step. Missouri's Coordinating Board for Higher Education has approved the plan, which calls for Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff to offer classes at the Career and Technology Center next fall. In addition, Mineral Area Community College in Park Hills, Mo., will continue to offer technology courses at the center.

The partnership is an experiment that could lead to further review of the need for a stand-alone community college down the road. That would require the creation of a taxing district and the approval of voters in the district.

For now, officials at the participating schools anticipate several hundred students, some of them taking advantage of the state's A+ program that covers community college tuition, will sign up for courses here.

The full impact of the (as yet unnamed) community college offerings with open enrollment will have on Southeast remains to be seen. University officials expect a enrollment drop and accompanying decrease in revenue from tuition and fees at the same time taking on about $1 million in expenses for the community college experiment.