Some Ohio residents who have enrolled in Ball State's fall classes are getting some good news.
Ball State will participate in a reciprocity agreement between Indiana and Ohio that allow some Ohio residents to pay in-state tuition here and at some other public institutions. In return, some Indiana residents will be getting discounts at some Ohio schools.
The agreement was approved by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education Friday. The Ohio Board of Regents is expected to approve the measure in June.
Once approved, residents of six Ohio counties - Butler, Darke, Mercer, Preble, Shelby and Van Wert - will pay in-state tuition at Ball State, Indiana University East, Ivy Tech State College in Muncie and Richmond, Purdue Statewide Technology in Muncie and Richmond, and Vincennes University.
Meanwhile, residents of Adams, Blackford, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Henry, Jay, Randolph, Rush, Union, Wayne and Wells counties in Indiana will pay in-state tuition at the main and Lake campus of Wright State University, Clark State Community College, Edison Community College, the Hamilton and Middletown campuses of Miami University, Rhodes State College and Sinclair Community College.
Tom Morrison, director of state fiscal relations at Ball State, said the choice of universities that are participating in the agreement was mostly geographical.
"The counties are the east-central part of Indiana and the west-central part of Ohio," Morrison said.
The agreement is set up to run from July 1 until June 30, 2005. However, Morrison said it will probably last much longer.
"This is the first year of a very long-term agreement," Morrison said.
If the agreement is renewed, it would be for two years and coincide with the two-year budget cycles of both states. It would also allow other institutions to join.
In the meantime, Ball State officials will be sending letters to students from the participating Ohio counties that applied to Ball State to inform them of the discount. They will also be contacting high school principals and guidance counselors.
"The good news is Ball State is the closest four-year university to most of these students in those counties," Waters said. "Some would love to come, but they simply couldn't afford the cost."
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