COLLEGE LOWERS COSTS FOR TEENS.Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer During the spring semester, 173 high school students enrolled in classes at College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. . Starting this summer, high schoolers will be able to take courses nearly for free. Teens from Canyon, Saugus, Hart and Valencia high schools, along with those enrolled in home schooling home schooling, the practice of teaching children in the home as an alternative to attending public or private elementary or high school. In most cases, one or both of the children's parents serve as the teachers. , independent study and Bowman Continuation High School A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school primarily for students who are considered at-risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same but the scheduling is more flexible to allow students to earn their credits , can take classes at the college without paying the $13 per unit fee. Students' main costs will be textbooks and parking fees, said college President Dianne Van Hook. Last month, the Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, Community College District board of trustees board of trustees Politics The posse of thugs who oversee an institution's administration. See Board of directors. voted to waive the enrollment fees in the concurrent enrollment program, which allows local high school students to take college classes. ``What a wonderful opportunity for our students to be able to hook into higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. before they graduate,'' said Hart High School Hart High School may refer to:
Kathy Kniest, a guidance counselor guidance counselor Child psychology A school worker trained to screen, evaluate and advise students on career and academic matters at Hart High, said about 50 of the school's students are concurrently enrolled at College of the Canyons this semester. ``I think some of them want to get a year or two of college completed before they get out of high school, and then they can transfer to a university without much trouble,'' Kniest said. Sometimes the students take the college option because the high schools' advanced placement classes are full. Others like the course selection at the college level, the counselor said. ``I've got students who will pick up art classes over there,'' Kniest added, citing business and child development courses as others popular with high school students. ``I've had kids who have taken up to a year and a half's worth of college (credits). I have one kid who, I think when he graduates from (high school), will have an AA degree from over there,'' Kniest said. ``Now that this is free, I bet we'll see more kids doing it.'' The first of the campus' three overlapping summer sessions begins May 26 and runs through July 2, with 70 classes offered. The second term, running June 22 through July 30, includes 41 classes, said Carter Doran, vice president of instruction and student services at College of the Canyons. Forty-two classes will be offered in the third summer session, running July 6 to Aug. 14, Doran added. Although the college's enrollment - 7,145 students in the spring semester - is at an all-time high, Doran said college students don't have to worry about losing space in classes to high school students. Because California's economy has bounced back from the recession of the early 1990s, the state Legislature A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions: That budget increase has, in turn, allowed College of the Canyons to lift its recession-era enrollment restrictions. ``For a while there, we were not allowed to grow,'' Doran said. ``Now we welcome as many students who can come in the doors, because we can provide them the classes. If we need more classes because of an increase in student population, we'll add the classes.'' Besides, Kniest added, high school students tend to be on their own campuses on weekday mornings, saving their concurrent enrollment classes for after lunch - leaving the college's peak class times open for college-age students. College of the Canyons tends to be full in the morning and emptier by noon. High school students enrolled at the college, Kniest said, ``are taking afternoon classes and evening classes.'' Doran explained that College of the Canyons won't lose money by waiving the enrollment fees for high school students. For example, five students who each take a three-unit class are considered the equivalent of one full-time student Full-Time Student A status that is important for determining dependency exemptions. An individual enrolled in a post-secondary institution may be eligible for certain tax breaks. Notes: The full-time status is based on what the individual's school considers full time. - and the state government gives community colleges $3,000 for each full-time student, he explained. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , while the college won't collect the $39 in fees that a three-unit class costs, the campus will make up for that loss by attracting higher numbers of high school students, Doran predicted. ``We're not risking the taxpayers' money on this,'' Doran said. |
|
||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion