BURLINGTON — Gov. Peter Shumlin celebrated Tuesday the Legislature’s decision to fully fund a program that lets high school students take college courses for free and on their own schedules.
Vermont State Colleges Chancellor Jeb Spaulding, Association of Vermont Independent Colleges President Susan Stitely and other education leaders joined the governor at Burlington High School to encourage students to sign up for summer classes as soon as possible.
Under the $1.2 million program, high school students gain approval from their school principal before using state-funded vouchers to enroll in classes at many Vermont colleges.
They can take up to two, 4-credit courses free as a junior or senior, usually at night or over the summer, and they receive credit from their high school and the college.
“That, combined with early college, where you take accredited courses right in your high school, can give you a full year of college for free while you’re in high school if you play your cards right,” Shumlin said.
He said two things discourage students from going to college — fear and a lack of money — and state-funded programs can help.
“We want as many options as possible for students to get college credit,” Shumlin said. “Dual enrollment and early college are literally transferrable credits to the state college system, many of UVM’s programs and other colleges.”
Student participation in the dual enrollment program has been going up since the Legislature established the program as part of the “flexible pathways” bill in 2013, and nearly 1,300 Vermont students participated in 2014.
More than half of students who take the courses go through Community College of Vermont, and about one-quarter take classes through UVM, according to a report from the Vermont State Colleges.
Of the participants, 75 percent earned a C or better in their classes in 2014, according to the report, up from 62 percent in 2013. Some participants are first-generation college students.
Shumlin said his original budget proposal to cut funding and shift half the program cost to property taxpayers might have discouraged students and families from signing up for summer courses this year.
The Legislature ended up appropriating the full $1.2 million for the program this year — half from the education fund, and half from the Next Generation fund — according to Spaulding.
“Some of the fears that they have about, ‘Boy I’m not going to be able to cut it. Nobody in my family’s done this,’ melt away,” Spaulding said. “They get into this college setting and say ‘Hey, I can actually do this, and maybe it’s two hours, but it’s fun.’”
Amy Mellencamp, principal of Burlington High School, said 80 of her students have participated per year since the dual enrollment program began. Four of them joined her Tuesday, and one said she was the first girl in her family to go to college.
“We have students that come from all over the world, and for many of them, this is their first taste of college, and their first understanding that they can actually do college,” Mellencamp said.
Summer classes at Community College of Vermont start next week. Other state colleges have course calendars on their websites.
