Students get dual credits for free

AACC will refund $370K to high schoolers who’ve already paid

Starting this year, Anne Arundel County Public Schools will provide free enrollment for its sophomores, juniors and seniors at Anne Arundel Community College.

On Tuesday the school system announced it will cover the cost of tuition and fees for high schoolers moving forward, and retroactively for the summer and fall. The system will use $3.9 million this year for the program, which will become part of the AACPS operating budget discussion, currently underway for fiscal 2024. For students who have not been able to participate because of cost, this removes a barrier, said Bob Mosier, a schools spokesperson.

“This is about opening the doors of access,” he said.

For years public school students have been able to earn college and high school credits simultaneously through the Early College Access Program at the college, but courses cost hundreds of dollars each. Not anymore.

AACPS will cover tuition and fees for career and technology courses, dual-enrollment courses and AACPS signature program courses that align with an associate degree pathway at the community college, and/or an AACPS-approved career and technology pathway. Course offerings may expand in the future.

AACPS will use state funding related to the implementation of landmark legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly, Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, specifically money earmarked to build college and career readiness.

“The Blueprint legislation opens a wide array of doors for our students and encourages them to explore pathways they may otherwise not have traveled,” Superintendent Mark Bedell said in a statement.

High school students taking eligible classes this fall, or who took classes this summer, will receive a refund for those classes. Angie Hamlet, public relations manager for Anne Arundel Community College, said the system will refund nearly $370,000 in December.

Since the program began, AACPS students who participate have paid 50% of the standard county resident rate of $122 per credit hour. Hamlet said a student taking Academic Writing and Research, for example, would be charged for three credit hours, or $183, as well as a $3 athletics fee, $25 registration fee, $66 educational services fee and $6 student activity fee, bringing the total cost to $283.

With this change AACPS students will pay nothing for a qualifying class.

Mosier said there are about 800 AACPS students taking 1,150 courses at AACC, with some enrolled in more than one course. With the removal of the cost of dual enrollment, he said he expects the number of participants to increase.

Last year more than 1,500 students participated.

Students don’t necessarily need to travel to AACC campuses in Arnold, Glen Burnie

or Hanover — AACC teaches in county high schools already. Online classes are also available.

Winter and spring registration is underway. The winter term begins Dec. 19 and the spring term begins Jan. 21.

You must register before the first class. For information on what courses are available, visit the AACC website at aacc.edu/ earn-college-credits-while-in-high-school/.

“By providing free courses to current AACPS high school students, we move closer to fulfilling our vision to transform the lives of county residents by creating more college and career opportunities for them and their families,” Anne Arundel Community College President Dawn Lindsay said in a statement.

The program does not include homeschooled students living in Anne Arundel. Those students, as well as students from participating private schools, are eligible for a 50% discount.

High school graduates in Maryland can also take advantage of the state’s “Maryland Promise,” which provides $5,000 in scholarship money per year to pay for community college. It covers remaining tuition after state and federal financial aid have been applied.