More Kansas City-area students eligible for discounted KU tuition

TOPEKA – More Missouri residents will be eligible for discounted tuition at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus thanks to action by the Kansas Board of Regents.

Wednesday afternoon the board passed a KU proposal expanding the MetroKC tuition waiver, increasing the number of Kansas City-area counties in the program and the size of the discount.

“Making college more affordable is part of KU’s responsibility to educate the leaders Kansas City needs in order to grow and prosper. Expanding the tuition waiver builds on the work we’ve been doing to expand our academic offerings at the KU Edwards Campus to better serve Kansas City residents,” said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little.

Starting in fall 2012, students in eleven Missouri counties will be eligible for resident tuition for classes at the KU Edwards Campus. Currently, the MetroKC discount for undergraduates is one-half the difference of resident and non-resident tuition.

Graduate students from eligible Missouri counties already pay resident rates and this discount will apply to graduate students from the additional counties.

Currently, students from Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte counties are eligible for the MetroKC tuition waiver. Starting in fall 2012, students from the following counties will also be eligible: Bates, Buchanan, Clinton, Henry, Johnson, Lafayette and Ray.

“We are grateful to the Board of Regents for the decision to expand the MetroKC rate to residents of Missouri in the eleven-county area. Students from these counties now have an expanded choice of high-quality academic programs that ultimately lead to a stronger economy and a higher quality of life for students and their families,” said KU Edwards Campus Vice Chancellor Bob Clark.

The Regents’ action also removed a restriction limiting the reduced tuition to only six credit hours per semester and made the MetroKC tuition waiver available to non-degree seeking students.

Thanks to the support of local residents through the Johnson County Education and Research Triangle, the KU Edwards Campus will officially open the Business, Engineering, Science, and Technology (BEST) Complex next month. The complex is part of a campus expansion that will add 10 new degree programs, including undergraduate programs in business administration and information technology.

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.