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Graduate Admissions

Academic Common Market


The Academic Common Market (ACM) was established to help out-of-state students reduce the costs of graduate studies.  Under the ACM agreement, a nonresident student may pay in-state fees provided the institution they wish to attend is a member of the ACM and no comparable program is available within their home state.  Of the 16 member states of the ACM, some offer IMBA and MHR programs, thus, residents of those states would not be eligible for the reduced costs for out-of-state programs.  Students may contact their State Coordinator (listed below) to determine whether they are eligible for the ACM program.

There are two requirements for the ACM:

  1. The student must be ACCEPTED into the program in which the home state has agreed to send its students.  Usually, this means that no institution in your home state offers a comparable program.
  2. The student must show proof of legal residence in the home state to the state coordinator.

After the student is admitted, he or she must contact the state’s coordinator for certification of residency.  Coordinators are listed below.  The residency certification must be returned to the state coordinator.  It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete the process.  It is not the function of the Office of Legal Residency at the University of South Carolina to contact the state coordinators. 

Establishing proof of residency involves several campus offices, and it may take a few weeks to secure in-state status.  Residency status for students entering must be confirmed by the Office of Legal Residency at least two weeks prior to enrollment.  Students who have not received confirmation of residency status before that time should be prepared to pay nonresident program fees at registration.

For more information about programs available through the Academic Common Market, write to the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) at the following address:

Southern Regional Education Board
592 Tenth Street, NW
Atlanta, GA  30318-5790

The participating states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.  ACM participation is subject to change.  Please contact your state coordinator or visit the SREB Web site at www.sreb.org .

State Coordinators for Residency Status

ALABAMA:  Director of Special Programs, Alabama Commission on Higher Education, P.O. Box 302000, Montgomery, AL, 36130-2000.  Phone: (334) 242-2209; Fax: (334) 242-2209

ARKANSAS:   Academic Common Market Coordinator, Arkansas Department of Higher Education, 114 East Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201-3818.  Phone: (501) 371-2038; Fax: (501) 371-2002

DELAWARE:   Academic Common Market Coordinator, Delaware Higher Education Commission, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington, DE  19801.  Phone: (302) 577-5240; Fax: (302) 577-6765

FLORIDA:   State Coordinator for the Academic Common Market, State University System of Florida, 325 West Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400, Phone: (850) 245-9701; Fax: (850) 201-9685

GEORGIA:   Vice Chancellor, Board of Regents of the University System Georgia, 270 Washington Street, S.W., Atlanta, GA 30334-1450, Phone: (404) 656-0765; Fax: (404) 651-5190

KENTUCKY:   Senior Associate, Academic Affairs, Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, 1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 320, Frankfort, KY 40601, Phone: (502) 573-1555; Fax: (502) 573-1535

LOUISIANA:   Academic Common Market Coordinator, Louisiana Board of Regents, Louisiana Board of Regents, 1201 N. Third Street, Suite 6-200, Baton Rouge, LA 70801-3677, Phone: (225) 342-4253; Fax: (225) 342-6926; e-mail: acm@regents.state.la.us

MARYLAND:   Education Policy Analyst, Maryland Higher Education Commission, 839 Bestgate Rd., Suite 400, Annapolis, MD 21401, Phone: (410) 260-4536, Fax: (410) 260-3201

MISSISSIPPI:  Director of Academic Student Affairs, Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211, Phone: (601) 432-6482; Fax: (601) 432-6978

NORTH CAROLINA:   Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, The University of North Carolina, UNC Office of the President, P.O. Box 2688, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2688, Phone: (919) 962-4597; Fax: (919) 962-7139; e-mail: acm@northcarolina.edu

OKLAHOMA:   Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, 655 Research Parkway, Suite 200, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, Phone: (405) 225-9170; Fax: (405) 225-9230

TENNESSEE:  Director, Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 404 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville, TN 37243-0830, Phone: (615) 532-7977; Fax: (615) 741-6230

TEXAS:   State Coordinator for the Academic Common Market, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Box 12788, Austin, TX 78711, Phone: (512) 427-6541; Fax: (512) 427-6264

VIRGINIA:   Senior Associate for Academic Affairs, State Council on Higher Education, 101 North Fourteenth Street, Richmond, VA 23219, Phone: (804) 225-2635; Fax: (804) 225-2602

WEST VIRGINIA:   Assistant Director of Academic Affairs, Higher Education Policy Commission, 1018 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Suite 700, Charleston, WV 25301-2827, Phone: (304) 558-0262; Fax: (304) 558-1646