AUGUSTA – Some Maine colleges are offering free or reduced tuition to students whose plans to study this fall have been interrupted by Hurricane Katrina.

The University of Maine System is offering expedited admission and in-state tuition to students from Maine or elsewhere whose college classes were terminated or postponed because of hurricane damage.

UMS trustees Chairman Charles “Wick” Johnson, who made the announcement Friday in Gov. John Baldacci’s office, said the visiting students will be allowed to enroll without following the usual application process and will receive in-state tuition.

The university also will accommodate housing, health care, counseling and financial needs of the “visiting students.”

Johnson said UMaine’s offer is part of a national effort to help hurricane-affected students. He said five students had already contacted Maine’s seven-campus university system about the offer.

“This offer applies to any undergraduate or graduate school student enrolled in any accredited institution in regions affected by the hurricane,” Johnson said. “Specific arrangements will be determined on a case-by-case basis.”

A Tulane University engineering student who expected to return to the New Orleans school instead is heading north to the University of Maine.

Lehan Wilson, 22, a Massachusetts native, said Friday from Midway Airport in Chicago that he planned on enrolling at the Orono campus for the fall semester.

Tulane canceled its fall semester Friday because of the storm and encouraged its students to take classes at others schools while New Orleans tries to clean up from the flooding.

Wilson said he decided to enroll at UM because his parents now live in Portland. He learned only Friday that the University of Maine System offered to help students displaced by the hurricane by expediting the application process and offering in-state tuition.

“It will be kind of like going home,” he said.

Wilson, who lived in a rented home near the Superdome, said he left New Orleans last Sunday and drove to Houston where he spent the last five days “watching television and trying to figure out the status of my house.”

Bates College is offering free tuition to displaced students from Maine who were attending colleges in flood-ravaged areas this fall semester.

“We don’t know how many Maine students this might apply to, but we are confident that we can make room in classes for them,” said Bates President Elaine Tuttle Hansen.

Room and board will be the student’s responsibility, but Bates will offer assistance in finding accommodations.

In Brunswick, Bowdoin College took a different tack, announcing Friday evening that it was contributing $30,000 to three historically black colleges facing substantial recovery and reconstruction costs in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Bowdoin announced that it will donate $10,000 each to Dillard University and Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, and Tougaloo College in Jackson, Miss.

Bowdoin also was offering flexible payment plans for its students whose families live in areas hit hard by the hurricane.

Students interested in Bates’ special offers may contact the Dean of Students Office at (207) 786-6219. Those interested in UMaine’s offer may call (800) 804-3200 ext. 3237.