Educators tout dual enrollment to School Board
Dual enrollment opportunities for college classes provide high school students with an opportunity to not waste time during their senior year and with a seamless transition to college, Area 5 Assistant Superintendent Dr. Randy Stowe told Aiken County Board of Education members this week.
Stowe, coordinator of the program for the school district, is collaborating with USC Aiken and Aiken Technical College. USCA's Andrew Hendrix and Marcia Vernberg and ATC's Ed Lapresto joined Stowe in a presentation on dual enrollment at a board meeting.
Specifically, there are different kinds of enrollment for juniors and seniors, Stowe said. Students can participate in concurrent enrollment, in which the college classes are separate from high school classes. Dual enrollment means a student is getting a college and high school credit for the same college course.
Dual enrollment has been under way for a few years at Ridge Spring-Monetta High School and Wagener-Salley High School through VTEL distance-learning technology through ATC.
The school district and the college campuses have started promoting the other enrollment programs more heavily this year.
"There aren't that many students involved so far as we didn't get the ball rolling until the last week of school last spring," Stowe said. "We expect more to get involved next semester, and we should have a huge number next fall."
Lapresto and Vernberg were hired specifically for dual enrollment coordination. Vernberg, a retired Aiken High guidance counselor, joined the USCA staff a few weeks ago, and Hendrix, the admissions director, said he's delighted to have her join the staff.
ATC offers 80 general courses that are transferable to any state public college, Lapresto said. There are 275 credit hours that can lead to certificates, diplomas or associate degrees.
"Lottery tuition assistance is available only at Aiken Technical College," he said. "Financially, it's a good opportunity."
The program is good not only for students but also for USCA, Hendrix said.
"We like having high-achieving students in our classrooms," he said. "We want to give them the opportunity to see life in a four-year college classroom as a bridge to college, where they can interact with our students."
Stowe said that an informational session at South Aiken High School a few weeks ago generated a large crowd of parents and students. Another session will be held at ATC on Jan. 28 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.