Dr. Tom Preston, Director of Forensics
        University of Missouri-St. Louis
        Dept. of Communication
        8001 Natural Bridge Road
        St. Louis, MO 63121-4499

        Our program is comprehensive in nature, offering CEDA debate,
individual events, and parliamentary debate when feasible.  We have done
NDT but given our limited tournament options few of our students choose to
do so. We see ourselves as sweepstakes-oriented.  We took first place
overall at the prestigious Cornell tournament in 1993, and last year's
squad won a school record 148 awards, including several first-place
finishes in LD and novice CEDA, as well as a state sweepstakes championship
at the Missouri Association of Forensic Activities tournament.  Last year,
we showed up at national tournaments; our next step is to be as competitive
next year in Gainesville and Long Beach as we have been in places like
Bowling Green and Maryville.  That's where our hard-working returning
people come in--but that's also where the involvement of more former high
school competitors come in.  We feel that we are in an unprecedented
position to both benefit and benefit from high school debaters.
        Traditionally, UM-St. Louis, formerly a commuter campus, has been
well-known for being a walk-on program.  However, a new partnership with
the University's growing Honors College, the construction of new
dormitories on-campus, and general funds for part-time and out-of-state
students have made it possible to substantially expand our outreach to high
school students in the entire region.
        Those who qualify for the honors college here and show promise on
the debate team usually can qualify for a scholarship their first year
here.  In these cases, the debate scholarship is worth $1,000.00 of the
total package, and the academic part covers most of the additional expenses
of attending here.  There are programs that waive out-of-state tuition for
those interested, and there are 400 additional rooms opening for resident
students this fall.  These honors college scholarships, which increase with
the GPA the student demonstrates each semester, continue to be supplemented
with stipends for debate each year the student competes.  If a student
decides not to compete after coming here, then they will not lose all of
their scholarship if also qualified for the honors college.  Potentially,
as many as four or five of these may be awarded per year, with as many as
16-20 students on the team carrying them.
        The debate-only scholarship fund is relatively small here, and
typically only 4 are 5 are awarded on a year-to-year basis.  These go to
students not in the honors college but who choose to debate and keep the
team's minimum 2.5 GPA requirements.  Depending on private contributions,
they range from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 per year.  They were worth $1,500.00
stipends for the 1995-96 academic year, or roughly 45 per cent tuition for
a student taking a full load of courses.  These scholarships are limited to
those who have been involved with an contributed substantially to the
competitive success of the Program as walk-ons.
        In sum, incoming students with moderate-to-fair grades (2.5-3.5)
may be able to earn limited debate stipends beginning their second year in
the Program.  Students with outstanding grades (3.5 or better in high
school, or the same or better in the first year of college) who also debate
may earn a package that amounts to a full scholarship (typically $2500.00
plus a housing allowance of $1000, plus $1500 for debate for a total of
roughly $5,000.00 per year).  These figures do vary depending of the
academic success of the individual, as those applying should be aware.
Complete information concerning honors college without debate, honors
college with debate, and debate scholarships may be obtained from Dr.
Preston at the above address.
        As well as money, the Program offers the vibrant social climate of
UM-St. Louis, a fine teacher certification program, and on-line services of
every description to support student research.  Students will learn not
only from the resources and team files we have, but mainly from those they
will develop, in the program.  The travel budget promises everybody a shot
at nationals who qualify (for ie's by AFA standards, and for CEDA by our
team standards)--and we have fulfilled that promise for 10 years running.
        For the past 10 years, UM-St. Louis has hosted the Eastern Missouri
NFL tournament, and has co-sponsored a breakfast for high school coaches
with the Missouri Association of Forensic Activities at the State
communication convention.  It has participated in the nationally-acclaimed
St. Louis City School summer intership program by hosting the 60-student
Gateway Mock Trial program with the Bar Association of Metropolitan St.
Louis.  It also has helped area high schools prepare for nationals with its
access to the on-line University research facilities.  The CEDA Outreach
Program, with its announcements of scholarship programs such as ours, is
most helpful in enabling programs publicise their offerings to the high
school community.  It is a nice way of giving a little back for all we have
received from our high school colleagues over the years.