Concurrent enrollment bill fails to advance, but fight continues
Students who take college courses while still in high school are more likely to earn a college degree, and to do so in less time with less debt, experts agree.
Dual-enrollment courses are growing in popularity nationwide as a way to enhance higher education outcomes for both students and institutions.
Oklahoma's concurrent enrollment program has been available to high school juniors and seniors since 2005. Last academic year, nearly 12,000 students enrolled in concurrent courses, generating more than 102,000 credit hours, higher education Chancellor Glen Johnson said.
Some students arrive on a college campus with 30 hours toward their degree, he said.
"Concurrent enrollment is a vital campus service that strengthens student preparation and drives student success. In addition to improving college readiness, the concurrent enrollment program lowers family costs for college and reduces the time required to complete a degree," Johnson said.
Seniors can earn up to six credit hours each semester, tuition-free. The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education pays 65 percent of the cost, while the college or university picks up the rest.
The regents asked the governor and the Legislature to appropriate an
additional $6.4 million next fiscal year to cover 100 percent of the tuition waivers.
A bill authored by Sen. Gary Stanislawski, R-Tulsa, and Rep. Jadine Nollan, R-Sands Springs, would have provided that additional funding and increased the number of college credit hours students could take in high school.
The bill failed to advance because of a procedural issue, but the authors plan to bring it back next year.
Data show the program has been “a resounding success,” Stanislawski said. “I’m convinced of the importance of giving more opportunities for students, especially first-generation college students.”
Nollan said the Legislature must find a way to invest more in the program.
“It’s very challenging, but investing in the opportunity would give us great benefits,” she said.
“Earning college credit in high school is the greatest indicator of post-secondary success.”
More funding, more credits
Nollan, who chairs the House Committee on Higher Education and CareerTech, supports expanding concurrent enrollment to give students the opportunity to earn an associate degree while attending high school.
By allowing students to start earning high school graduation credits in seventh grade, they could earn as many as 63 college credit hours in high school, she said.
“It could be a tremendous opportunity for our students,” Nollan said.
“We’re already doing it with CareerTech, where they can graduate with a certification.”
Graduates would be ready to step into jobs immediately or go to a university with half of a four-year degree program completed.
One idea to fund the expansion is through the Oklahoma’s Promise scholarship, which covers tuition for eligible students at any of the state’s 25 public colleges and universities.
Making the scholarship available to high school students to pay for early college credit should be considered, said Nollan and Melissa Steadley with Tulsa Community College.
“The Oklahoma’s Promise money could be spent more wisely,” said Steadley, director of concurrent enrollment programs for TCC.
She said paying for juniors and seniors to get their general education and core major credits with Oklahoma’s Promise would increase the college completion rate statewide and decrease the need for students to take remedial courses when they get to college.
TCC provides dualcredit programs to about 2,000 high school students in 76 school districts in six counties, plus more than 100 home-school families, Steadley said.
The college pays for six credit hours, or about $600, per semester for each junior and senior enrolled, she said. Students normally earn 21 to 24 college credits.
TCC will continue to fund the program at that level through the 201718 academic year, “but we need more funding,” Steadley said.
While additional state funding for concurrent enrollment appears unlikely this year, Stanislawski is not giving up.
“It needs to be on the radar,” he said.
“We need to have a plan over the next several years to increase funding in this area to help more students receive a college degree.”
Concurrent enrollment is a vital campus service that strengthens student preparation and drives student success. In addition to improving college readiness, the concurrent enrollment program lowers family costs for college and reduces the time required to complete a degree.”
Glen Johnson