Media Release
Learn and Earn Online Growing Fast in Community Colleges
For release: Immediately (5 p.m., Thursday, Nov
15, 2007)
Contact: Chancy Kapp 919-807-6962 or Audrey Bailey 919-807-6963
RALEIGH --
• Forty-four community colleges.
• More than five hundred college courses for credit.
• By conservative estimates, at least three hundred students so far.
• Long-term enrollment goals of 6,000 students per semester.
That's a sample of the encouraging numbers the State Board of
Community Colleges heard today (Thursday) about the first few weeks
of the statewide Learn and Earn Online program.
Antonio Jordan, director of High School Partnership Programs for the
North Carolina Community College System, presented a comprehensive
report on community college participation in Learn and Earn Online
during the State Board's Issues Luncheon at the Caswell Building in
downtown Raleigh. (The University of North Carolina is part of
Learn and Earn Online as well; today's report focused only on
community colleges. Click
here for full Power Point presentation.)
Jordan told board members that Learn and Earn Online kicked off in
August 2007 with funding from the General Assembly as part of
Governor Mike Easley's efforts to reform public education in North
Carolina so students are ready to succeed either in college or in
meeting the workforce demands of the global economy.
The initiative permits students in participating public and charter
high schools to take a variety of online college-credit courses at
no cost to them or to their families. Students earn both high school
and college credit for completed courses.
"Students love this," according to Jordan. "Parents love this. Who
wouldn't love the chance to earn a whole semester or even a whole
year's college credit in high school? Think of all the tuition
that's saving. "
Through Learn and Earn Online, students receive their college
textbooks without charge; the North Carolina Department of Public
Instruction pays the bills. Students pay no tuition, and other fees
are reimbursed by the System Office.
Jordan reminded the board that community colleges had been offering
college credit courses to high school students for more than twenty
years. "Huskins Bill" courses bring community college instructors to
high school campuses to teach college courses. Dual enrollment
permits high school students, including home-schooled and private
school students, who are at least 16 years old to take classes on
community college campuses and participate in community college
distance learning courses already offered on-line, through broadcast
telecourses and through live video.
According to Jordan, Learn and Earn Online offers some significant
new benefits to the public and charter school students who are
eligible to enroll.
The courses are open to students in ninth, tenth, eleventh and
twelfth grades, without regard to age. Students may take online
courses with colleges outside of the current service areas of their
local community colleges and school districts, making this a truly
statewide program. The State Board of Community Colleges has
significant flexibility in resolving any barriers identified in
collaboration with the Department of Public Instruction.
"The biggest challenge we have had in starting our part of this
program so far has been that we had to do everything very quickly,"
commented H. Martin Lancaster, President of the North Carolina
Community College System. "The funding, registration codes and other
details were not in place until August. Most high school students
pre-register by April, so most students who chose to sign up had to
drop a course to do so. The current estimate is just that -- an
estimate. We are confident that the spring semester will be much
higher, and we may well have more this fall when we have the data."
Ann McArthur, Teacher Advisor in Governor Easley's Office,
participated in the presentation. She praised the extensive efforts
of community colleges, saying, "I want to thank the State Board of
Community Colleges for your solid support, and I particularly want
to thank President Lancaster for his personal efforts."
The North Carolina Community College System currently enrolls more
than 800,000 students a year in 58 comprehensive community colleges.
Last year, enrollments in for-credit distance learning courses
topped 180,000, with thousands more in continuing education.
For information about community college participation in Learn and
Earn Online, contact Antonio Jordan at the North Carolina Community
College System Office, 919-807-7133. http://vlc.nccommunitycolleges.edu/LaE/
(See below for a list of community colleges participating in Learn
and Earn Online Fall 2007.)
For information about all the programs and services of the North
Carolina Community College System, contact Audrey Bailey at
919-807-6963 or Chancy Kapp at 919-807-6962.
www.nccommunitycolleges.edu
###
Asheville-Buncombe TCC
Bladen CC
Blue Ridge CC
Brunswick CC
Caldwell CC/TI
Carteret CC
Catawba Valley CC
Central Carolina CC
College of The Albemarle
Craven CC
Davidson County CC
Edgecombe CC
Fayetteville TCC
Forsyth TCC
Gaston College
Guilford TCC
Isothermal CC
James Sprunt CC
Johnston CC
Lenoir CC
Martin CC
Mayland CC
Montgomery CC
Nash CC
Pamlico CC
Piedmont CC
Pitt CC
Randolph CC
Richmond CC
Robeson CC
Rockingham CC
Sampson CC
Sandhills CC
South Piedmont CC
Southeastern CC
Southwestern CC
Stanly CC
Surry CC
Tri-County CC
Vance-Granville CC
Wake TCC
Wayne CC
Wilkes CC
Wilson CC
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Last modified:
Thursday, November 15, 2007 05:33:37 PM
This page maintained by
Audrey Bailey.