SEMO Regents approve online tuition change, reduce fee for online nursing program

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents approved single tuition rates for online degree students at its meeting Tuesday.

In addition, as part of the measure, the board reduced the per-credit-hour program fee for the online registered-nurse to bachelor of science nursing program from $100 to $20 as recommended by the university administration.

Reducing the online nursing degree program fee would bring it in line with the program fees charged for other academic programs, including the on-campus nursing-degree program, said Kathy Mangels, vice president of finance and administration at Southeast.

It also would allow the program to remain competitive with online nursing-degree options at other schools, she said.

The move could result in an initial loss of $116,000 in revenue, but higher revenue from new enrollments as a result of the single tuition rate is expected to make up the loss, she said.

Board president Jay Knudtson welcomed the change.

"It is nice to talk about ways to reduce student fees," he said.

A university committee earlier this year recommended the school implement a single, per-credit-hour tuition rate for all online degree program students, regardless of residency.

The new tuition rates will be $265 per credit hour for online undergraduate courses and $325 per credit hour for online graduate courses, effective for the fall 2016 semester.

In the current academic year, the cost for an online course including tuition, general fees and online fees totals $252.50 per credit hour for in-state undergraduate courses and $314 per credit hour for in-state graduate fees.

In the 2014-2015 academic year, the university offered 12 undergraduate online degrees and seven online graduate degrees that had separate tuition rates for in-state and out-of-state students. Those online degree programs generated more than 10,000 student credit hours, but out-of-state students generated only 7 percent of those credit hours, officials said.

Mangels said the fee change will allow the university's online degree programs to be more cost-competitive with those offered by other institutions.

"Clearly, the boundaries of residency, when you are talking about online degree programs, has become blurred," she told the board.

Online degree programs appeal particularly to working adults. Many employers offer programs to reimburse an employee's educational expenses. Many reimburse, however, only for tuition and not other associated fees, she said.

Southeast's total fees per credit hour are lower than those of many other colleges, but the out-of-pocket expense to the student employee may be substantially higher because of the separate billing for general fees and online fees, Mangels said.

The fee change should be more attractive to employers and working adults, she said.

Students still would pay separately for course fees, which help offset the cost of consumable supplies used by students. Mangels said such fees typically amount to $10 to $15 per course and don't apply to many courses in online degree programs.

In other business, the regents approved new academic programs in industrial and systems engineering and industrial distribution.

The board also approved new minors in child development/childhood trauma and outcomes and equine science.

mbliss@semissourian.cm

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