Eligible students from Oklahoma or Texas will no longer have to pay full out-of-state tuition to attend Wichita State University.

The Kansas Board of Regents has approved a program called Shocker Select, which gives eligible students a 33 percent discount off nonresident tuition, a savings of about $5,200 each year.

The change is effective immediately. Eligible current students and those who want to attend Wichita State can go to http://www.wichita.edu/shockerselect and fill out the discount waiver.

Bobby Gandu, director of undergraduate admissions, says Shocker Select makes the cost of a WSU education nearly equivalent to what students can find with flagship institutions in their home states.

“Over the years, I have become familiar with the high caliber of Texas and Oklahoma students who choose to be Wichita State students,” Gandu says. “Now I’m thrilled that we’re setting the stage for even more students from those states to attend our institution.”

'A great balance'

Eligible students – such as native Oklahoman Bridget Carroll, a junior in WSU’s Honors College – find that they can take advantage of this new benefit to attend a top university not far from home.

“Wichita State has been an incredible experience for me,” she says. “I’ve found a great balance between trying something new and being close to home.”

Carroll says the university experience in Wichita is different than most college environments in Oklahoma, where universities tend to dominate the surrounding town.

“At Wichita State, I am really able to integrate, not only in the university, but also in the city itself,” she says. “I’ve been able to explore living life on my own with the knowledge that my family is not too far away.”