Programs give kids jump start on college

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Michael Baker is simultaneously earning credits toward his Eagle Point High School diploma and an associate degree in electronics at RCC's Table Rock Campus through a dual-credit program that makes college credit available at a greatly reduced cost.Jim Craven

November 03, 2009

By Paris Achen

Mail Tribune

For part of the school day, Eagle Point High School senior Michael Baker leaves the high school campus to take electronics classes at Rogue Community College's White City campus.

At the end of the school year, 17-year-old Michael plans to receive a high school diploma from Eagle Point and an associate degree in electronics from RCC.

His credits from the RCC electronics program will work to fulfill both credit requirements because of a dual-credit agreement between the two schools, and he didn't have to pay anything to attend the RCC classes, which normally cost $73 per credit or more depending on the program.

"Hopefully, I can just go on to make a career, become a technician, then get my bachelor's degree and become an engineer," said Michael, who would be Eagle Point's first student to earn an RCC electronics associate degree while still in high school. "It just opens up so many pathways."

All of the public and private high schools in Jackson County offer some type of dual-credit program — all of which are either free or have a nominal fee significantly less than what any undergraduate student would pay.

"Really what high schools are turning toward is offering college credit while in high school," says Allen Barber, Eagle Point High School principal. "In the past ,only advanced-placement courses afforded college credit. Now that's not the case."

For example, Eagle Point has more than 700 pupils enrolled in college credit courses, including advanced placement, RCC and Southern Oregon University classes and a smattering of courses from other institutions around the state, Barber says. The number of college-credit courses that Eagle Point also recognizes for credit has grown from 11 in 2006-07 to 28 this year, the majority of which are free, he says.

The most recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Education show that in 2003-04, about 71 percent of public high schools nationwide offered some kind of program in which students could earn dual credit for high school and college, and 69 percent offered advanced-placement courses.

RCC courses at Eagle Point are free, while SOU courses have a nominal fee.

That can lead to considerable savings given that nationally the average cost to attend a public four-year college or university is $7,020 per year, according to the College Board. The national average cost to attend a private four-year college is $26,273, the College Board says.

And prices continue to rise. The cost to attend a four-year public college or university in 2009 increased by an average of 6.5 percent compared with 2008, the College Board reports.

Eagle Point senior Dominique Martinez, who is in the RCC business technology program, says she will have completed all her math requirements for an associate degree from RCC by the time she graduates from Eagle Point in June.

She pays $120 for a three-credit creative writing course offered through SOU, which is about a third of the cost an undergraduate student would normally pay.

While the program has grown, some parents and students are not aware of the dual-credit programs or hear about them too late. Michael says he wishes he had known about the program as a freshman, so he could have started earning college credit even earlier.

Barber says Eagle Point is making a more deliberate effort to notify students about the options.

"The SOU dual-credit program is huge," says Michelle Tresemer, a spokeswoman for St. Mary's School, a private Catholic school for grades 6-12. "It's great for students who are not great test-takers."

Unlike advanced placement courses that involve earning a certain score on a standardized test in the subject matter in order to earn college credit, dual-credit classes at RCC and SOU award credit for earning better than a C in the class.

"As long as you get a B, SOU will give you credit, and those credits are transferable to other state schools," Tresemer says. "A lot of students can skip their first two years."

St. Mary's offers more advanced placement courses and more SOU courses than any other high school in the county.

"To get the word out, you have got to get it through students' heads that these classes are free," says Eagle Point junior Jake Feighner, who also is enrolled in the RCC electronics program.

"It's free," he emphasizes again, stretching out the "ee."

However, Jake cautions that the college credit coursework isn't easy. In addition to school work and classes, Jake works 35 hours per week as a prep cook at a local restaurant.

"What's kept me motivated is working for $8.40 per hour, " Jake says. "I don't want to keep working for $8.40 an hour."

Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4459 or e-mail pachen@mailtribune.com.

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