To attract students, many colleges across the Ohio River have lowered out-of-state tuition for people living in neighboring Ohio counties.

Monday, October 23, 2000

To attract students, many colleges across the Ohio River have lowered out-of-state tuition for people living in neighboring Ohio counties.

Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Ky., is the latest, but EKU isn’t the only option for students seeking lower tuition options in higher education.

Closer to home, Ashland, Ky., Community College, Ashland Technical College and Ohio University’s Southern Campus offer low tuition plans for students.

Although it does not extend discounts to neighboring counties in Kentucky and West Virginia, OUSC’s regular tuition is much lower than other schools, said Carol Allen of OUSC.

Dr. Eric Cunningham, acting dean at OUSC, agreed with Allen, saying OUSC’s low tuition is a boost to local residents.

"Our out of state tuition is significantly lower than Ohio University’s campus in Athens," Dr. Cunningham said.

In Ashland, ACC offers out-of-state students from Gallia, Scioto and Lawrence counties the same rates as students from within Kentucky.

"We’ve offered low out of state tuition to neighboring counties for a year now," said Gayle Fritz of ACC.

The college, which has no on-campus living and caters to students who commute, does not offer discounts to any other Ohio counties, Ms. Fritz said.

"Our tuition is so low anyway," she said. "Offering a discount to students who live further away wouldn’t make much of a difference because of the expenses in commuting or living in Ashland."

Ms. Fritz said that Ashland Technical College also offers discounts to neighboring Ohio counties.

EKU’s board of regents recently approved tuition-cutting measures for southern Ohio counties in the first three tiers that border Kentucky.

Students who live in any of them receive a 45 percent discount in tuition.

To qualify, a student must meet the criteria for full admission to EKU. Students who qualify for the discount are the children of EKU alumni and students with a GPA of at least 3.0, and have a composite ACT score of 25.