will stay in Bermuda, its director said.

Ms Dara van Dijk said Webster has opened an office above The Marine Locker on Gorham Road. The school's 200 Bermuda alumni have been invited to a grand opening on October 11.

"I think it's good for the community,'' Ms van Dijk told The Royal Gazette .

"I have personally worked long and hard to make this come about.'' While Ms van Dijk "never had a real doubt'' that Webster would stay, the worry was "whether it would all come about in the time frame that we needed it to''.

When it was announced that NAS Bermuda would close on September 1, there were concerns that Webster University would leave along with the US Navy.

Many Bermudians have earned Master of Business Administration degrees by attending Webster classes on the Base. While the MBA is no longer offered, Masters of Arts degrees in Management, Finance, International Business, and Human Resources Development are offered.

Ms van Dijk said Webster's parent campus in St. Louis, Missouri "recognised we had a very successful campus in Bermuda and wanted to keep that''.

Webster has had a presence in Bermuda for 14 years.

Outside of St. Louis, Bermuda joins four European Webster campuses located in London, Leiden, Geneva, and Vienna and more than 50 extended campuses in the United States. Opened in 1915, Webster has more than 65,000 alumni and 11,000 students.

Only one course will be offered this fall -- a Management course which begins on November 6, she said. Finance will be added in January and International Business in the fall of 1996. Courses in Human Resources Development will start in the spring of 1997.

In general, "we'll be able to offer much more'' than on the Base, she said.

"We've added a computer lab with five brand new computers.'' The university has rented just over 1,800 square feet on Gorham Road and may be looking for more space in the near future.

And Webster plans to be on the Internet, giving students access to research material from universities around the world.

However, a major advantage of being located on a military Base has been lost.

Bermuda students can no longer benefit from the low tuition rates that Navy personnel and their dependents paid.

Ms van Dijk said each course will cost $1,050, up from $645. Webster is a non-profit institution and the new rate is in line with tuition paid at the European sites and in the US, she said.

In another change, the university will be able to accept "international students'' from other Webster campuses who were not eligible to attend while the university was located on the Base.