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Dave Larsen writes about higher education.Home > Blogs > On Campus > Archives > 2008 > February > 06 > Entry
Strickland plan offers high school seniors free year of college
Eric Fingerhut
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland sent a message to Ohio high schools and public colleges and universities on Wednesday that they need to start working together to improve college readiness.
Building on an existing program that enables high school students to earn both high school and college credits simultaneously, Strickland unveiled a plan for high school seniors to complete the first year of college during their senior year on a University System of Ohio campus. Tuition would be free.
With a full year of college credit under their belts, the students would graduate high school and start college as sophomores.
Strickland shared the plan, called Seniors to Sophomores, in his state-of-the-state speech in Columbus as part of several initiatives for reforming Ohio’s educational pipeline. On the K-12 end, he proposed stripping power from the Ohio Board of Education to create more straight-line accountability. You can read about that at my colleague Scott Elliott’s K-12 blog, Get On the Bus.
“Its goal is to raise the aspirations of all students, to challenge students who might feel disengaged from their high school studies, and to help students who want to accelerate their college education,” Strickland said in the speech. “And, just think about the effect on a family’s budget when they save the cost of an entire year of college tuition.”
Students who meet the academic qualifications for the program would start enrolling this fall. Only students from Ohio’s public high schools will initially be eligible, and they can enroll only at public two- and four-year campuses in the University System of Ohio.
Under the existing Post Secondary Enrollment Options program, high school students can earn credits toward high school graduation through dual-enrollment in college courses.
Students currently also get free college tuition when dual-enrolled, but the system is not as flexible or accessible as the Governor would like, said Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut, who oversees the University System of Ohio.
In the past, schools discouraged the program because high schools and higher education institutions have struggled to work out sharing its costs and scheduling, often preventing students from taking full advantage of the option.
“The governor is very frustrated by the fact that we’ve allowed bureaucratic barriers between K-12 and higher education to impede what students want to do. Anyone who wants to do this should be able to,” Fingerhut said following the speech.
About 11,200 public high school and 1,000 non-public school students participated in the PSEO program in Fall 2007, according to Ohio Department of Education data.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: Higher education politics
Comments
By Mary
February 6, 2008 7:17 PM | Link to this
My son used PSEO fulltime for 4 years and got his degree in 2003 from OSU a few days after he received his high school diploma. He received his associates degree from Sinclair a year or two before his high school diploma. It is nice to finally see such support from the Governor and [chancellor] Fingherhut. A few years ago, it was amazing to see how school districts fought this program and its academic opportunities for students. They seemed to be more concerned about loss of money attached to the students than supporting academic opportunities for students.By Joseph
February 7, 2008 12:00 PM | Link to this
This is a great opportunity for students…provided that they live within a reasonable distance of a college.By ohdave.net
February 8, 2008 4:50 PM | Link to this
Stephanie, can you tell how this differs from the post secondary enrollment option that already exists and allows students (not only seniors) to earn as much college credit as they want? I’m not seeing what’s new in this plan. What am I missing?By Mary
February 9, 2008 8:09 AM | Link to this
I second ohdave.net’s question. Some, including myself, are concerned that the new rules might gut the current opportunities for the younger students (9th, 10th, and 11th graders). This could actually be a step backwards for the brighter students. Many younger students are more ready for college level classes than many seniors.By Mary
February 9, 2008 8:09 AM | Link to this
I second ohdave.net’s question. Some, including myself, are concerned that the new rules might gut the current opportunities for the younger students (9th, 10th, and 11th graders). This could actually be a step backwards for the brighter students. Many younger students are more ready for college level classes than many seniors.By ohdave.net
February 11, 2008 8:26 PM | Link to this
Stephanie, another point. The phrase “dual enrollment” as you use it here is misleading. Dual enrollment is where a student takes a high school course and also receives a college credit for the course. PSEO involves student leaving campus and going to a college campus for the course. In some cases, they also earn hs credits, but they are usually electives, not really anything counting towards graduation. I also disagree that HS’s discourage PSEO. That’s simply not true. Most hs’s are thrilled to see students doing things to better themselves. However for many students transportation is an issue, and social factors keep them at school as well. Also, for college bound students, AP courses and upper level courses at their home hs are often more rigorous and challenging than intro level courses at a community college. So there are many reasons why students don’t participate in PSEO, but it isn’t because hs’s discourage participation.By Mary
February 12, 2008 10:32 PM | Link to this
“ohdave.net”, PSEO Option A, parents pay and it counts only for college credit. Option B, state pays and it counts for college and high school. What you said about electives might be true for some students who choose that route. However, other students take their classes fulltime (or part time) in college and transfer credits to the high school to satisfy requirements in math, English, science, etc as well as electives.