The college is one of 11 institutions in the University System of Georgia now offering the waiver for students from the three states, said Clayton Daniel, assistant vice president of enrollment management at the Brunswick-based college.

Since enacting the waiver at the college this semester, a difference has been felt in admission numbers. Thirty-three students are taking advantage of the waiver, Daniel said.

“We’re excited to have this extra recruiting tool and be able to bring in students who may otherwise not have been attracted to our campus,” he said.

Daniels said the goal of the new waiver is to create a more diverse campus and foster a growing network of students throughout the southern portion of the country.

“We want more and more people to know that we are here to serve their educational needs, even if you aren’t a Georgia resident,” he said. “This is one more tool for us to expand our student portfolio and extend our reach over state lines.”

The waiver has been highly effective in attracting new students to the college’s Camden County campus, as well, where Florida residents are helping the college student population grow, Daniels said.

“It makes perfect sense, for example, for students from Jacksonville to be attracted to the school just an hour away from the city,” he said. “We’ve gotten a really good response to this idea after we sent out the news.”

With the waiver, students are eligible to save thousands of dollars on tuition each semester. A full-time student taking 15 hours, for example, would pay more than $6,300 in tuition and fees per semester.

Being tagged as an in-state student, though, would reduce that full-time per semester price to about $2,200, according to the tuition chart on the college’s website.

Daniels noted that the less restrictive tuition waiver recently approved by the Georgia Board of Regents will not take away from academic openings for Georgia students at the college. Peach State residents will still have plenty of opportunities to attend the college, especially as the college builds up its Brunswick campus with increased student housing options, he said.

“This waiver is designed to help us create a broad spectrum of students with a broad range of life experiences and skills to our campuses,” he said. “We’ll have the waiver active for three years, after which time we’ll examine how effective it has been. We’re optimistic with the opportunity to shape, mold and grow our campus in a positive direction.”

Others who offer the border state tuition waiver are Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Albany State University, Armstrong State University, Bainbridge State College, Darton State College, Fort Valley State University, Georgia Southwestern State University, Savannah State University, South Georgia State College and Valdosta State University.