WUE program offers students chance to travel
An exchange program for incoming, non-resident freshmen and transfer students to Utah State University desiring to complete their education out-of-state is available.
The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), a program with the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), is designed to help non-resident students in various western states better afford non-resident tuition costs by allowing them to pay 150 percent of their resident tuition, said Ann Gibbons, administrative assistant in USU’s Admissions Office.
For one semester at USU, resident tuition for a full-time student ranges from $1,700 to $1,800. Non-resident tuition for one semester is anywhere from $4,900 to $5,300. A non-resident student on WUE would pay between $2,500 and $2,700, almost half what they would normally have to pay.
Scholarships and financial aid are the best options, but if students do not meet those requirements and are willing to adhere to the conditions set up by the participating university of their choice, WUE is the next best option to apply for, Gibbons said.
“Utah State offers great scholarship opportunities, but if students don’t qualify for those or financial aid, they can choose this, which almost cuts non-resident tuition in half,” Gibbons said.
The WUE involves 13 other states: Alaska, Montana, South Dakota, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Washington, Hawaii, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon, according to a WUE information booklet available in the Admissions Office.
Universities in each of these states decide how many WUE students to admit and which programs to make available. At USU, there are 250 total slots with only 60 to 70 openings each year if students leave or graduate.
All programs are available, making USU the only Utah four-year institution without program restrictions, according to the pamphlet.
Admittance to USU is required before students are accepted into the WUE program.
Freshmen are required to have an admissions index of 100 or higher.
Transfer students must have at least a 3.0 GPA. If a student is awarded the scholarship, they must maintain a 2.5 cumulative GPA and take a minimum of 15 credits per semester.
The program lasts for eight semesters, which do not need to be consecutive.
Credits earned on WUE do not count toward residency, so the student may return home for the summer.
The student body at USU benefits from WUE by gaining a greater variety of students.
“It allows Utah State to have a more diverse student population,” said Margo Stephenson, program coordinator of student exchange programs at WICHE. “It [also] fills seats that would otherwise be empty.”
USU students who need to complete their degrees at out-of-state institutions for various reasons may apply and possibly benefit from the program as well if awarded the scholarship, she said.
The WUE Program began in 1988 and has assisted thousands of students since then.
It is growing each year as more people hear about it and more institutions participate.
In the 2004-05 school year, WUE participants saved nearly $111.7 million in tuition costs, Stephenson said.
“WUE has been amazing,” said Kelsey Benson, a freshman on the WUE scholarship. “It made it possible for me to come to Utah State, and I really wanted to come here.”
Information about WUE is sent to state representatives and school counselors to inform students about this program.
To learn more, visit USU’s Web site: www.usu.edu/scholarship/wue.html or call 1-800-488-8108. Also, visit WICHE’s Web site: www.wiche.edu/SEP/WUE/index.asp.
-briannamo@cc.usu.edu