Contacts: Jack R. Warner, Executive Director and CEO

jack.warner@sdbor.edu

Janelle Toman, Director of Communications

Janelle.toman@sdbor.edu

 Telephone: (605) 773-3455

Fax: (605) 773-5320

www.sdbor.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Wednesday, March 28, 2012

SDSU Chemistry Program Selected for Western Regional Graduate Student Exchange

ABERDEEN, S.D. – The master’s-level chemistry education program at South Dakota State University will become part of a regional exchange that qualifies students from participating states for the resident tuition rate.

The master’s degree in chemistry with a chemistry education specialization at SDSU will join the Western Regional Graduate Program operated by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). The South Dakota Board of Regents, meeting Wednesday in Aberdeen, approved SDSU’s participation in the program.

The exchange program offers students access to master’s and doctoral degree programs that are of demonstrated quality and not widely available in the western region. Graduate students from 14 other western states may qualify for the resident graduate tuition rate, rather than a higher out-of-state rate, if they enroll in the approved chemistry education program.

Regents’ officials said student exchange programs serve an important dual purpose. South Dakota is able to recruit additional graduate students from other states into programs where there is capacity, and South Dakota students gain the opportunity to pursue specialized programs elsewhere that are not available in South Dakota.

WICHE states participating in this program are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The WICHE graduate exchange program currently offers some 280 high-quality programs at 50 participating institutions.

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On the Net:

Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education: http://www.wiche.edu/wrgp