WSU’s Global Campus will offer in-state tuition rates to all online students beginning this fall.

The Board of Regents voted last month to offer the lower tuition rates to all online students, regardless of residency. Non-residents currently pay 28 percent more than in-state students.

“The majority of Global Campus students are Washington residents and currently pay the in-state rate of tuition,” said David Cillay, vice president of the Global Campus.

In material presented to the Board of Regents, a review showed that out of 20 universities with successful online programs, 17 offered flat-rate tuition for all online students.

“By offering flat rate tuition it puts us in a similar boat as other top online programs, and makes us more competitive with other online programs,” said Cillay.

Kara Kadow, a recent graduate of the Global Campus, was a California resident when she attended.

“The user interface at the time was the best I had seen compared to other online schools, and all the classes I needed were online, which is what fit my lifestyle,” Kadow said.

She graduated in December with a degree in social sciences.

Kadow said the amount of tuition she paid at the time was fair, but a tough pill to swallow.

WSU established the Global Campus as WSU’s fifth campus in July 2012, and has around 3,000 students enrolled. There are currently eight undergraduate and eight graduate programs offered through the online program.

The change will apply to undergraduate and graduate students. It will not apply to the online MBA or executive MBA programs, which were recently ranked best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The programs already offer flat-rate tuition.

The WSU Global Campus’ mission is to bring education beyond geographic backgrounds and expand access to a WSU education, according to its website.

President Elson S. Floyd told WSU News that the Global Campus was the 21st century realization of the university’s land-grant mission to bring education beyond campus barriers.

Cillay said he wants to create the college experience in a virtual word. He wants to give students the opportunity to blog and network, as well as plan events.