Two former Wood County students will see a significantly smaller college tuition bills this fall.
Keri Lutz, a 2010 Bowling Green High School graduate, and Alisha Shepherd, of Portage, each won a
semester of free tuition in Owens Community College’s "Tuition is Right" contest.
Shepherd, 28, has attended Owens’ Perrys-burg Township and Findlay campus locations since 2001. Lutz, 19,
enrolled at Owens in 2010.
Lutz, of Maumee, won the first of three runner-up prizes. She is majoring in commercial art technology.

A former Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Student at Owens, Lutz said she has enjoyed her Owens
experience, which includes working in the college’s library.
"There are a lot of good people on campus," she said.
Shepherd grew up in the Bowling Green area, but graduated high school from Providence Christian School in
Riverview, Fla., in 2001. She returned to Northwest Ohio and started attending Owens later that year.

She said she’s completed many of her general education classes. Now the tuition prize will help her
pursue a culinary arts degree and dietetics certificate. Her goal is to complete a bachelor’s degree in
nutrition.
"I’ve tried to win the ‘Tuition is Right’ for three years. I’ve gone to both finals each year,"
said Shepherd, who’s employed as a waitress at Olive Garden in Findlay. This year, her perseverance paid
off; she was the first person eliminated for the grand prize, but then won the last of the runner-up
prizes.
Alyssa Davis of Toledo and Phil Carlen of Findlay won free tuition for the 2011-12 school year. The third
runner-up prize went to Sarah Villarreal of Oregon.
The contest also was co-hosted by Clear Channel Radio’s 92.5 Kiss FM, 104.7 WIOT, 101.5 The River and
103.7 CKY.