Cut-Rate Campus in New Hampshire

Wow. It seems like a bargain for students in New Hampshire. They can go to the Southern New Hampshire University's main campus for tuition of $25k or they can attend at the satellite campus in Salem for only $10k a year. No Olympic-sized pool, no rotating climbing wall, no 46,800-square foot food court. SNHU plans another satellite, and the State of Pennsylvania is considering some similar plans. Some say that it looks like "reinventing community college."

So what does $10,000 - comparable to tuition and required fees at a state school - buy? A full load of prescribed introductory courses in English, math, psychology, and history, intimate classes of fewer than 10 students, and built-in office hours with professors, so students don't drop out.

The only amenities at the Salem satellite: computer labs, vending machines, and a lounge with a stack of magazines and a chess board.

"It's not the mainstream college experience, but it helps keep your sights focused on your work," said Matthew Gambardella, an 18-year-old business major who commutes 40 minutes from his parents' home in Peabody.