Tuition

Adult single parents, displaced homemakers and single pregnant womenresiding in Anne Arundel County may be entitled to a tuition assistance grant from the Maryland Department of Education, Division of Careers and Technology Education.The Annapolis YWCA recently was awarded this grant and will use it to help pay for up to 18 credit or non-credit hours with a limit of three courses per semester. Assistance can include tuition, books and associated fees. To qualify, courses must be career-related and directed toward a specific career goal.

The Howard Community College Board of Trustees voted to raise tuition $3 per credit hour and not to grant a 5.5 percent merit increase tocollege faculty and staff.The board adopted the tuition increasefrom $44 to $47 per credit, a 6.8 percent increase, primarily to payfor six new faculty members needed to accommodate increased enrollment.The per-semester maximum paid by in-county students will rise from $616 to $658.In other news from HCC:* The college, the Howard County Office on Aging and the Department of Recreation and Parks are sponsoring "Senior Adult Summer Institute '91" at HCC on June 3-7.Morning classes will meet at 10-11:45 a.m. and will feature Music Appreciation, Current Literary Trends (Great Literary Works for Senior Adults)

Why not ask the children of undocumented aliens for service to Maryland in something like AmeriCorps in exchange for in-state tuition after their graduation? This has been done in Holland for decades for those who have received government subsidized tuition. Christine Armor

Regarding your recent article on the split over the proposal to offer in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants ("Maryland becomes a state divided," July 31), does not the word, "illegal," mean unlawful, non-legal, or against the law? If so, why then are there sharply split attitudes? Dave Miceli, Joppa

If my tax dollars can be used by Afghani government officials toward the purchase of villas in France, why not by the children of illegal immigrants toward their college tuition ( "Amid federal inaction, Md. among states to take up immigration," Jan. 18)? Children of illegal immigrants are assets to our state and nation. Afghani government officials are… Doreen Rosenthal, Baltimore

Congratulations to Baltimore County Executive Kamenetz for admonishing the County Council for taking in essence a formal position regarding the in-state tuition for illegal immigrants issue. However this not unexpected form a largely inexperienced County Council. Aside from the pros or cons of the issue, it is about practical politics. The County Council has taken a formal position in opposition to something the state legislature has approved. Each year the county request funding form the state legislature for a variety of things, including education.

Conservative activists trying to repeal a state law that grants college education discounts to illegal immigrants have met a preliminary goal to keep their efforts on track, the State Board of Elections reported Tuesday. State officials validated 21,919 of the signatures the group submitted last month, well above the number needed to keep their initiative alive. The number could grow as officials continue sorting through tens of thousands more on the group's initial petition. Activists have until the end of this month to continue collecting names.

Students at most University of Maryland system campuses would see their spring tuition bills increased by 6 percent to 12 percent under a proposal now pending before the system's Board of Regents.The largest percentage increase would be at Towson State University, where full-time students from Maryland would see their spring tuition bills go up by $110 -- or 12.2 percent for the semester. Full-time Towson students from outside the state would face a 15 percent increase in the spring tuition.

IT'S time to put the brakes on tuition increases at private colleges.This is a matter of survival, not just for individual private colleges, but for the students who benefit from the many special programs and options private colleges provide and, in the long range, for our diverse society in which all segments must be well-educated if America is to continue to be a world leader.What spiraling costs mean is that fewer students -- and a less varied group of students -- can afford to choose a private college.

The red-and-white placards outside the Motor Vehicle Administration office in Frederick strike some as an invitation: "Sign petition here. No in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. " One after another, supporters walk up. Over the course of the morning, Carol Geisbert welcomes, among others, a Montgomery County mother of three college-bound teens, a truck driver named Dewey Sayers and a 28-year-old Frederick Community College student wearing a Beastie Boys T-shirt. Two Carroll County sisters in their 60s practically skip to the table.