SEMO becomes even more accessible

Southeast Missouri State University is well-known for its accessibility and service to the region.

There are day and night classes, Internet classes, distance learning and satellite classes. And it's that last category that recently received a much-needed boost in Perryville, Mo., in an attractive and cost-effective way.

The satellite campus that previously served the Perryville area was in a former grade school in Sereno, Mo., five miles east of the city.

In August, that satellite campus moved to a 48-year-old stone building on the grounds of St. Mary's of the Barrens, a former Catholic seminary that was closed in 1985. Retired priests still live on the grounds, a common and comfortable sight for the students.

The students, many returning to school after years away from education, say they appreciate the convenience, added space and dignity of the place.

School officials hope the move into Perryville will help lift enrollment from 225 -- about the same as in Sereno -- to 400. A convenient location and an ongoing partnership in Perryville with Mineral Area College, a community college in Park Hills, Mo., could help Southeast do just that.