On Tuesday, more than 120 local high school students were to receive letters from Sampson Community College to learn the unexpected fate of their dual enrollment status.

From initial numbers, while the majority of students will be safe, numerous others will find themselves under a tight deadline to modify their schedules — or pay the tuition required.

The 2009-10 state budget adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly late last week affects the eligibility of high school students who take college level courses. That has hit a “quality program” hard, local school officials said.

For decades, the dual enrollment/concurrent enrollment program at SCC has allowed a high school student to receive simultaneous high school and college credit while attending certain college classes, sans tuition. As cost for college has continually risen in recent years, so have dual enrollment numbers, a sidestep of some costs in the transition to higher learning, said Dr. Bill Aiken, SCC president.

“We’ve spent years trying to build up the program between the community college and the high school, giving students a chance to build up a transcript while participating in a quality program with college teaching while still in high school,” Aiken said. “There’s not much of a downside to it. Now, all of a sudden, they have these drastic changes.”

Aiken said there are approximately 125 dual enrollment students slated to take fall classes at the community college. Of those, 80 are not expected to be affected by the changes. The remaining 45 are not as lucky, and may be subject to a fee.

Two separate letters were sent out Monday to incoming dual enrollment students. Each states the issue quite simply.

Based on the course, some students are affected and some are not. Specifically, the letter states, courses can no longer be taken as a dual enrollment class without cost.

“The college regrets that these changes are necessary,” Aiken states in the memo to enrolled students. “However, there simply is no other alternative.”

Classes void of tuition are those in math and sciences, as well as vocational and technical classes, which will still require the student to purchase needed textbooks and supplies. Other general education classes have costs incurred.

As he is looking over a long list of budget cuts, Sampson County Schools superintendent Ethan Lenker said the dual enrollment program was a tough one.

“All the kids taking psychological/sociology classes at the college are all cut,” Lenker said. “Those dual enrollment classes are gone and it is taking away opportunities for the kids.”

With school set to begin later this month, Aiken said the news was disheartening.

That has only been compounded by the suddenness. Due to the budget’s late adoption bumping into the beginning of the school year, those impacted by the changes have just a matter of days to make their decision.

Aiken has laid out four options. Students registered in a class for fall semester 2009, he said, may elect to:

• Drop the course and add a Learn and Earn online course, offered free to high school students (including cost of textbooks);

• Drop the course and sign up for a course not affected by the changes (see box). The classes will continue to be free, but students must purchase their own needed textbooks and supplies;

• Remain in the course and pay tuition, which is $172.25 for a three-hour course. College and high school credit will be awarded; or

• Withdraw completely from the community college and add an additional course or courses at the high school.

The letter from Aiken stipulates that any changes to schedules must be made this Friday, Aug. 14, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. If students do not exercise one of the four options by that time, they will be automatically dropped from their courses.

The program will operate in a scaled down fashion for the foreseeable future, Aiken said. The same guidelines are in effect for Spring 2010 students and likely from then on, he noted.

“We anticipate it will be a permanent thing,” Aiken stated. “I wish it wasn’t that way, but it appears it will be.”

A larger issue

Sampson Community College is not the only local institution forced to modify its operations under a strained state budget.

James Sprunt Community College has made a similar announcement to its students, explaining the state Legislature’s elimination of funding for all general education courses in the dual enrollment and Huskins programs at community colleges statewide.

However, as with SCC, math, science, technology, physical education and college success skills courses will still be offered to high schoolers through dual enrollment at James Sprunt, according to officials.

Aiken said that the full effect of the changes will be felt in the very near future, but the news for now is still fresh.

“Most people are pretty sympathetic that they’re going to have to pay tuition,” said Aiken, who expressed his own sympathy for the guidance counselors struggling to swap the pupil’s anticipated college-level courses for high school classes.

The issue is both a financial one and one that could invariably impact scholastics, Aiken said. In addition to numbers for dual enrollment, the approximately 250 students participating in Early College High School brings the number to nearly 400.

“It’s been steadily increasing as the cost of tuition at a four-year school has gone up,” Aiken remarked of the college’s high school-aged population. “It’s grown because tuition has escalated. Some do it because it’s free and they can take advantage of a good education with no tuition.”

SCC officials are anticipating high enrollment for the fall. Many classes may already be full, Aiken said.

And the SCC president fears free Learn and Earn online classes will not give students the necessary interaction and instruction offered in a classroom. Funding for the Learn and Earn online program has been approved by the General Assembly and is offered at James Sprunt and SCC.

“I have some concern with the Learn and Earn,” said Aiken. “Some face-to-face contact with the instructor is very beneficial to a student.”

However, while Aiken regrets changes to dual enrollment, he can see what state legislators are tasked with in budget tightening.

The college receives state funding based upon enrollment earned through its full-time equivalents (FTE), similar to K-12 average daily membership (ADM), a statistic that determines the number of students enrolled in a school for purposes of state funding.

Dual enrollment was likely targeted for that reason, Aiken offered.

“In defense of the state, they are paying for that same student twice,” he attested. “There’s state ADM money and then that student comes to the community college and they are an FTE. I think that’s a pretty legitimate argument.”

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@myclintonnc.com.