EDUCATION: LOCAL SCHOOLS TO DEVELOP A+ PROGRAMS

The state of Missouri soon could foot the bill for two-year degrees at Southeast Missouri State University and the Sikeston Area Higher Education Center through the A+ Schools program.

Officials at Southeast and Three Rivers Community College have reached an agreement on the venture, which still awaits final approval from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. DESE officials say approval is likely.

Southeast and Three Rivers plan to begin offering the two-year programs for A+ Schools students beginning next summer or fall. The move would provide greater access to higher education for area high school students, officials with the two schools announced.

Under the A+ Schools program, the state pays the cost of tuition and books for eligible students from designated high schools to attend any public community college or technical school in the state.

About 6,000 students statewide have qualified for tuition assistance since 1997.

Cape Girardeau Central High School is one of 122 designated A+ high schools in the state, including 20 in Southeast Missouri.

Central High School is the only school in Cape Girardeau County designated as an A+ school. Since the closest community college is more than an hour's drive away, there has been limited opportunity for students to take advantage of the program, local educators say.

Central High School senior Mark Haley is in the A+ program. He welcomed the news that he could pursue a two-year degree closer to home.

"I wanted to go to a community college," he said. But the closest community colleges in Missouri are Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff and Mineral Area College in Park Hills.

"That would be great if they could do it," he said of the Southeast and Three Rivers partnership.

Access is the isuue'

The presidents of Southeast and Three Rivers said the partnership should make it easier for A+ Schools students to pursue two-year degrees.

"Access is the issue," said Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast's president. "What this provides is an opportunity to be successful close to home."

Deena Ring is the A+ program coordinator at Cape Girardeau Central High School, where about 200 students are enrolled in the program.

"This would give us a tremendous opportunity," said Ring, who hopes the partnership will lead to expanded course offerings in the future.

Dr. John Cooper, president of Three Rivers, said the partnership with Southeast makes sense. The two schools already work together in providing college courses at higher education centers in Kennett, Malden and Sikeston.

"We have been looking for a way to bring the best of what the two institutions have to offer to an even wider area," he said.

Under the agreement, Three Rivers and Southeast would offer selected associate degree programs on the Southeast campus in Cape Girardeau and at the Sikeston Area Higher Education Center.

Two-year programs in physical therapy, child care and guidance, and computer technology degrees in automated manufacturing, microcomputer systems and technical computer graphics would be offered at Southeast.

Five associate-degree programs would be offered at the Sikeston center. Two of the programs -- an associate degree in nursing and an associate of arts degree -- would be offered by Three Rivers.

The two institutions jointly would offer two-year degrees in industrial technology, computer technology, and child care and guidance. The child care program is expected to become strictly a Three Rivers degree program on the Sikeston campus in about three years.

Three Rivers also may offer associate degree programs in information systems technology and industrial technology on the Southeast campus. Those programs first would have to garner approval from the Southeast Missouri Educational Consortium and the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education.

Southeast officials said the partnership was forged through the consortium. Southeast and Three Rivers are members of the consortium.

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Students who graduate from a designated A+ high school may qualify for state-paid assistance (full tuition and books) to attend any public community college or technical school in the state.

Students must meet the following requirements to be eligible for tuition reimbursement:

* Attend a designated A+ high school for three consecutive years prior to graduation.

* Have a grade point average of 2.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale.

* Have at least a 95 percent attendance rate.

* Perform 50 hours of unpaid tutoring or mentoring.

* Maintain a record of good citizenship and avoid unlawful use of drugs.

* Attend a Missouri community college or post-secondary vocational-technical school on a full-time basis and maintain at least a 2.5 grade point average.