East Mississippi Community College in Scooba recently expanded its tuition guarantee program.

School president Dr. Rick Young says the free tuition allows free tuition to high school graduates in EMCC's service area, and can cover up to four semesters.

Students in Lauderdale, Kemper, Noxubee, Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties may participate.

Young said it's not only beneficial to students but also to business and economic development.

"By having or providing resources for people to become better educated or trained and skilled in areas so that they can take advantage of good jobs that will make our areas, number one, more attractive for new industries coming in; number two, for existing industries to make them more competitive because they'll be getting better trained, more highly educated workers," said Dr. Young.

To qualify for the tuition guarantee for the fall semester, students must have graduated in May, applied for financial aid, and be enrolled full-time and maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average.