Program helps Eldon grads earn degrees in high school

When the Eldon R-1 School District begins classes Aug. 18, new juniors and seniors can follow in the footsteps of dozens of other graduates who have earned college credit hours through a program few Mid-Missouri schools offer.

Since the College Now program started in partnership with State Fair Community College (SFCC) at Eldon schools during the 2012-13 school year, more than a dozen students have graduated with an associate's degree while graduating from high school.

In fact, five Eldon High School graduates received their associate's degrees in 2016.

"We know that kids who have at least 12 college credit hours (in high school) are at least 75 percent more likely to go to college," said Matt Davis, superintendent at the Eldon school district. "Our goal is to get kids to go to some type of post-secondary training."

Davis said the district's administration contacted SFCC, hoping to create post-secondary training for high school students through the college's satellite campus in Osage Beach. At first, SFCC administration encouraged the district to have students take courses at the Lake of the Ozarks campus. However, Davis said that really separates the students from the high school.

"We have somebody that teaches speech, for example, that is not part of our Eldon school district faculty. They actually work for SFCC and come to our campus to teach the courses," he said. "That makes it convenient for our kids."

In working through costs and setting up a model, the College Now program gives students an opportunity to pursue a high school diploma and an associate's degree or up to two years of credit toward a bachelor's degree.

The College Now program offers more than 30 classes where students - at least a junior, achieving a required ACT score and meeting a few other requirements - can earn up to 64 college credits upon graduation. The classes - ranging from art, music appreciation and English to speech, business, algebra and anatomy - typically are general education requirements for most degrees.

When planning the College Now program with SFCC, Davis said, the district realized college algebra, English, government, speech and others are classes they already offered to high school students.

"They could also count as dual credit as long as our teachers have 18 hours of graduate credit hours in the content area," he said. "Some of our teachers do have (that requirement) and teach the classes, but we also have professors coming from SFCC to teach on campus. We also have a teacher that has their MBA that teaches our graduate-level business class."

Even though the courses are not career-oriented, some course offerings give students a head-start in degree programs offered nearby, Davis said. For example, SFCC offers a LPN/RN (Licensed Practical Nursing/Registered Nurse) program. Some of the program's prerequisites are anatomy, physiology and college algebra, which are all offered through College Now.

Enrollment in College Now has minimal cost and offers long-term savings for students and their parents. Each class costs $73 per credit hour, and the school district covers the cost of the books. Tuition rates are reduced due to students' ineligibility for federal financial aid such as Pell grants or student loans until they have earned a high school diploma.

Davis said a typical credit hour at a four-year university or college costs about $250, and many books can range between $180-$200.

"When I talk to parents, they are concerned they can't afford the program," he said. "Two of our staff members, who had daughters that graduated this school year, said it was less than $5,000, and they were able to graduate with two years of college."

Davis said the district is also looking at ways to open scholarship opportunities to students who cannot afford the classes. He said the district is encouraging more students to take classes with a good balance between College Now courses and other career-oriented classes through the Eldon Career Center.

"A downfall of this program is sometimes a student will take a dual-credit class versus one of our career center classes. Some of our teachers have said some of our high-end kids that would normally take a business or FFA class or an engineering class are now taking a dual-credit speech class, for example, instead of finding a career interest," he said. "So we balance that, and we do not push them to get their associate's degrees.

"College English and college algebra are the two big ones where we say, 'Hey, you have to have this for about any degree you are going to pursue. Get these out of the way.' If you struggle in math, our math teacher will meet with you every single day for a whole school year instead of one semester to teach your college algebra. We go over the benefits of why to take college algebra in high school than in college."

Davis is excited to be at one of the few districts in the Mid-Missouri region to offer a dual-credit program like College Now. He said its recent graduates have said how beneficial and affordable it has been in pursuing higher education upon graduation.

"We had one of our student athletes go on to play basketball at Drake University, and she graduated with more than 40 college credit hours. She said, 'I'm probably not going to graduate early,' but she doesn't have to take 18 credit hours. She can take 12 hours and know she still has plenty of time to graduate," he said. "When you talk about success in college and reducing stress to graduate, she said this program has made that easier for her."