IRONTON -- Seven colleges and universities in Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio will continue to work together to allow more Tri-State students to get a higher education degree.

Partnering are Rio Grande University, Marshall University, Marshall Community and Technical College, Shawnee State University, Ohio University, Ashland Community and Technical College and Morehead State University. They have joined forces to put together a Web site, www.educatethetristate.com, which has a listing of all the courses available to students at the colleges and universities.

Representatives of most of those schools met Tuesday at Ohio University Southern to discuss ways to continue to cooperate and help students.

"We're working to keep tuition low and allow students to transfer credits," said Rita Rice Morris, Shawnee State University president. "We want to give students the best opportunity to get to their career goals. We're working together where we can. Cooperation is much better than competition for the students in this area."

Morris said the universities and colleges want to try to continue to expand cooperative agreements. "We're trying to make it an easy path for students," she said. "Affordability is an issue."

The seven colleges and universities also are working to continue reciprocity agreements that will allow students in one state to attend classes in another state at a rate lower than an out-of-state rate or even in-state rates.

Greg Adkins, president of Ashland Community and Technical College, pushed for the cooperative agreement as a way to give more students a chance to get a higher education degree.

"We have one student enrolled in three colleges and universities because of his work schedule," Adkins said. The student is taking 12 college credit hours at ACTC, three at Marshall University and three at Ohio University Southern to complete his associate of arts degree, he said.

ACTC increased tuition at the start of the year, and Shawnee State is planning a 3.5 percent increase for the winter quarter. While Ohio University increased tuition by 3 percent, the university allowed regional campuses including Ohio University Southern to keep tuition rates the same for the third year in a row, said Bill Willan, Southern campus dean.

"We see our mission as access," Willan said. "Keeping tuition low is one way to increase access to higher education. We're pleased to be part of the efforts to continue these cooperative programs. It benefits students, especially nontraditional students."

That could lead to budget cuts, he said. "We're looking at areas that could be cut while protecting academic programs," he said.

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