Using the Academic Common Market

Hey all,

I haven't seen any discussion of using SREB's Academic Common Market to save on tuition. For those who don't know what this is, here is a link.

http://www.sreb.org/page/1304/academic_common_market.html

If you live in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland or Delaware then you may be able to see a tuition reduction.

The basic premise is that if one state does not have a program that another state does have within SREB, then the participating college will not charge out of state tuition. The Academic Common Market also applies to ONLINE programs.

My significant other wants to get a Master's in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Criminology. Louisiana does not have very many MCJ programs and none with a concentration in Criminology. Luckily, Florida State's Online MCJ program is available to Louisiana residents through SREB's ACM. It has a concentration in Criminology. I was lucky to stumble upon this info. It will save a heck of a lot of money for me and it is a very solid CJ program.

Out-of-State cost $1070.96 per credit hour x 36 hours = $36,554.56
In-State cost 439.56 per credit hour x 36 hours = $15,824.16

Here is the direct link to see all programs available by your state of residence:

Southern Regional Education Board

Good luck to you all and hope this information can help some of you.

 

Academic common market

Good find. I am sure someone will be able to use this. and save themselves a great deal of money.

 

Good info for members of the board to have. This program or one similar to it has been around for a number of years. I had friends at Auburn that were from Georgia and attending on in-state tuition because the academic program wasn't offered in Georgia.

 

The SREB's Academic Common Market (ACM) is obviously for residents of southeastern states. However, there are similar programs that are worth checking out if you live in the west or midwest:

Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE): for residents of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming

Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP): for residents of Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin

I believe that you can use WUE and MSEP even for degree programs that are offered in your home state (unlike ACM). However, many of the best-known schools in the listed states do not participate in these programs. In California, for example, you can only enroll in some of the less popular Cal State campuses via WUE; none of the UC schools participate.

Tuition under WUE and MSEP is capped at a maximum of 150% of the resident rate, which is usually still less than the normal out-of-state rate.

 

Prior to starting at WNMU, I looked into getting my Master of Library Science. Virginia doesn't do MLS programs, so we can use the Academic Common Market. The School Librarian at my school got her MLS through Florida State via the Academic Common Market. It saved her a ton in tuition costs.

-Matt