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University officials are carefully considering the possibility of offering in-state tuition to students from bordering counties of Illinois to be sure the idea would actually make the university money.
Terry Clark, chair of the marketing department, said the Faculty Senate's budget committee has been looking at costs of offering in-state prices to students in bordering counties in neighboring states, but a decision is far from being made.
It's a complicated process, said Clark, chair of the budget committee. The number of students coming to SIUC from neighboring states would have to be increased enough to offset losing the out-of-state tuition money the university already receives, he said.
Clark said SIUC is also the only university in the state that is considering the idea, which makes it more difficult to gain support from the state government.
"If we had natural allies at other universities for whom out-of-state students meant as much, we could maybe go on the road to Springfield and begin to lobby," Clark said, "but I don't see that we do."
SIU President Glenn Poshard said the issue is individual to SIU because the university is competing with three other states for the same students. Plus, Poshard said, universities such as Murray State University and the University of Southern Indiana offer in-state tuition to Illinois students, which can cost less than Illinois tuition costs.
"There's more competition now from these other states surrounding us," Poshard said.
Both Murray State University and the University of Southern Indiana offer reciprocity to students in neighboring states, meaning out-of-state students are originally charged the out-of-state tuition costs, but later receive a tuition discount to bring the costs down to the amount of in-state tuition.
Clark said another problem is that SIU-Edwardsville will most likely be against the offer as they are located so close to Missouri and receive a large number of students who drive over state lines for class.
"If we offered in-state tuition, then they would lose that without necessarily having a compensating increase in out of state kids paying in-state rates," Clark said.
Interim Provost Don Rice has said the university is also interested in defining the eligibility for students out of state receiving the in-state tuition rates to recruit students with better academic records.
Allison Petty contributed to this report.
Madeleine Leroux can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 268 or mleroux@siu.edu.
