SCHOOLS TO OPEN HIGHER EDUCATION CENTER

PERRYVILLE -- A college education will be closer to home when the Perry County Higher Education Center opens next month.

The center is housed in a former kindergarten school at Sereno, five miles north of Perryville on Highway 51.

Southeast Missouri State University, Mineral Area College at Park Hills and the Perryville School District have teamed up to offer a handful of entry-level classes this fall.

School officials say the center will serve Perry County residents and those in neighboring Ste. Genevieve County and the Chester, Ill., area.

Interested students are invited to a welcoming session at 6:30 tonight at the center.

Representatives of the two colleges will be on hand to advise students on financial aid and course schedules.

Classes at the new off-campus site begin Sept. 5. Registration will be held Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. at the center.

The school district is providing the facility and paying the cost of utilities, insurance and maintenance. The school district's adult education office technology and GED programs are also housed there.

Mineral Area and Southeast are providing the instructors for the college classes.

"We have quite a commitment to making this thing work to be successful," said Ron Fitch, superintendent of the Perryville schools.

Officials in the public school district led the way in setting up the higher education center.

The school district first entered into discussions with Mineral Area in February 1994. Southeast came aboard late last year.

Initial plans had called for offering classes last spring, but the addition of Southeast caused organizers to go back to the drawing board, Fitch said.

"We kind of pulled back and almost started all over again," he said. "I think we have it in good shape."

Most of the classes will be held in the evenings.

"People need additional education," Fitch said. "It should not terminate when you finish high school."

The center, he said, will bring education to the people. Many of the center's students will be those who otherwise wouldn't attend college.

Bill Richardson, center coordinator, said, "I think everyone has to become more flexible than higher education has been."

Dr. Sheila Caskey, dean of extended learning at Southeast, said the goal is to operate the Perry County Higher Education Center in similar fashion to the Bootheel Education Center at Malden.

This fall, Mineral Area will offer courses at the center in humanities, environmental science, writing skills and algebra. It also will offer physical geology and general psychology via cable television and videocassette.

Southeast will offer three courses: U.S. political systems, world religions and society, culture and social behavior.

Students will pay $50 a credit-hour for Mineral Area courses.

The per-credit-hour cost of Southeast courses will be $87.50 for Missouri residents and $161.50 for non-residents.