A+ scholarship program use varies by institution type

Can students enrolled at Cape College Center and Cape Girardeau School District's Career and Technology Center take advantage of the state's A+ scholarship program?

Yes and no.

The A+ program fills financial aid gaps for those who meet eligibility requirements and who are attending a public community college or vocational technical school.

Cape College Center (CCC) isn't exactly either one of those, and neither is the Career and Technology Center (CTC), and access to the scholarship program is one of the sticking points involved in the future of the college center. Cape Girardeau School District has terminated the lease for the center with the three institutions of higher learning associated with it -- Southeast Missouri State University, Three Rivers College and Mineral Area College -- and is exploring options for a new arrangement to take its place.

In recent months, Mineral Area has purchased Three Rivers's stake in the center. SEMO and Mineral Area are set to mediate an ongoing dispute regarding which institution can offer general education courses at the college center.

"The Cape College Center is operated as a consortium of multiple institutions," explained Leroy Wade, deputy commissioner of Operations for the state Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. "Since the center is not a public community college or a career center [area vocational technical school], students attending must be enrolled at one of those types of institutions in order to receive A+. Students enrolled in coursework offered by the Cape Girardeau Career and Technical Center, Mineral Area College or Three Rivers College would at least potentially be eligible for A+, assuming the students met the other eligibility criteria for that program."

Libby Guilliams, director of Cape Girardeau School District's Career and Technology Center, identified specific scenarios in which full-time CCC students could and could not use A+ scholarship funding.

A student enrolled in general education courses offered -- for the time being -- through Three Rivers College (while also receiving credit for those courses from Southeast Missouri State University) could use the program.

However, students enrolled in technical training courses offered through Mineral Area College would not be eligible for the program unless they enrolled in general education courses at Mineral Area's campuses or online.

CTC students would fall into a similar situation. In order to access A+, they would also need to enroll in additional Mineral Area courses on campus or online in order to be a full-time student.

There are five CTC programs eligible for the A+ program without any additional enrollments, Guilliams explained, because they are full-time programs and/or lead to an associate degree requiring several hours of general education coursework. CTC's licensed practical nursing, medical assisting and paramedic programs are full-time programs, therefore A+ eligible. Its respiratory therapy and physical therapist assistant programs are associate programs, leading to an Associate of Science in Medical Technology.

"For some students, it's worked fine," Guilliams said of the A+ restrictions. "If they are just wanting to take 30, 35 or even 50 or 60 hours using their A+ funds before they transfer to SEMO to work on a four-year degree, that program works fine for them -- most of the time. The students it didn't work fine for were those students who were trying to work on general education coursework they needed to do associate degrees that were involved with Mineral Area and CTC."

The director added students who decided to change programs often had to start over, unenrolling and enrolling with the various institutions.

"Sometimes they had to take courses that they didn't necessarily need," in order to gain full-time student status, she noted. "It just complicated the situation. It just wasn't a seamless process."