Southeast Missouri State University might give a tuition break to students from Southern Illinois and other Missouri border states to help boost enrollment.

Dr. Robert Parrent, associate vice president of enrollment management, said the university is considering the idea, and a decision could be made in the next six months.

Out-of-state students from anywhere, not just border states, are eligible for scholarships if they meet certain academic standards, but there isn't a blanket tuition break for border-state students.

A non-scholarship student in East Cape Girardeau, Ill., has to pay the full out-of-state tuition of $2,160 a semester.

Over the years, university officials have insisted their hands were tied by state law when it came to giving a tuition break to students from neighboring states. In 1995, then-admissions director Juan Crites said state law prohibited Missouri's public colleges and universities from charging in-state tuition for out-of-state students.

But Parrent, who was hired last August, said he hasn't found any legal barriers to offering a tuition break or grant to border-state students.

"It's insane. It's crazy," he said of the practice of requiring border-region students to pay the full out-of-state price.

Leroy Wade, director of school certification for the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education, said there isn't any state law that prohibits schools from offering tuition discounts.

The state law, however, authorizes the coordinating board to set tuition guidelines for public colleges and universities.

Wade said the long-standing policy is that Missouri's tax-supported colleges and universities should charge higher tuition for out-of-state students than for in-state students.

Southeast president Dr. Dale Nitzschke suggested lawmakers would oppose any effort by the University to allow border-state students to pay in-state tuition. "That is a political time bomb," he said.

Southeast officials, however, think the school could charge border-state students less than the full out-of-state tuition.

Don Dickerson, president of Southeast's Board of Regents, said it makes sense to offer some sort of discount to students in neighboring states. Without such a discount, Southeast is at a disadvantage in recruiting students.

Both Murray State University at Murray, Ky., and Arkansas State University at Jonesboro offer tuition breaks to students in Southeast Missouri and neighboring states.

Arkansas State University charges in-state tuition of $1,000 a semester for out-of-state students from border counties within a 75-mile radius of the campus. If any part of a county is within the 75-mile radius, students in that county qualify for in-state tuition. Students in Scott City, for example, qualify for the tuition break.

Students in 11 counties in Southeast Missouri are among those that qualify for the tuition break.

Last fall, 762 students from Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi received the tuition break. Of those, 584 were from Southeast Missouri.

Parrent said Arkansas State's lower tuition makes it difficult for Southeast to recruit students from the Bootheel.

Murray State provides a scholarship of $1,000 a semester for students from 68 counties in surrounding states, including 17 Missouri counties. The students must live in campus housing and must meet certain academic requirements for the scholarships. Southeast officials say most students can meet those standards.

Last fall, 852 students received the scholarships, which lowered their tuition cost from $2,860 a semester to $1,860. The bulk of the scholarship recipients were from Illinois.

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale used to charge in-state tuition for students from Southeast Missouri and Western Kentucky but quit doing so the past few years because of pressure from the state board of education. The state board won't allow public colleges and universities in Illinois to waive more than 3 percent of their undergraduate tuition.

At SIU, the tuition break was counted as waiving two-thirds of a student's tuition because out-of-state tuition is three times higher than in-state charges.

SIU abandoned its tuition break after being penalized in funding by the state board. "We lost a big chunk of money," said Dr. John Jackson, SIU's vice chancellor and provost.

SIU has adopted a new plan to make tuition more affordable for out-of-state and international students. SIU is reducing its out-of-state tuition from about $8,100 a year to $5,400 a year, effective in fall 1999.

"That will help us because that will lower the cost by a third," said Jackson. "That will help get us back in the ball game in Southeast Missouri and Western Kentucky."

Meanwhile, Southeast draws few students from surrounding states.

In 1996, 600 undergraduate students from Illinois were enrolled at Southeast. The university had 39 students from Tennessee, 24 from Arkansas and 17 from Kentucky.