The Community College Option, Part 2: Enrollment is increasing in state program to cover junior college tuition

Editor's note: This is the second part of a series addressing community college needs in the Cape Girardeau area.

Vanessa Ayers, a senior at Cape Girardeau Central High School, travels to Clippard Elementary School every day to work as a classroom aide for Christine Lacy's kindergarten class.

She goes during the fourth hour of school as part of a child development class. The work also counts toward the mentoring requirement for the A+ Schools Program, a state program that pays tuition and fees for two years at a community college.

Part of the ongoing debate about whether Cape Girardeau needs a community college is whether local students have enough opportunities to take advantage of the program.

High schools must meet state requirements to receive A+ designation, which covers tuition after state and federal grants are secured by the student. Students at qualifying schools must have a 95 percent attendence record, complete 50 hours of mentoring and fulfill other grade point average and citizen requirements.

"Any average student could really do it," Ayers said.

Central High School has been an A+ school since 2001. The program has received little participation in the past and the school is trying to increase awareness, said Linda Schaffner, the A+ coordinator at the high school. She said many students know they do not have access to a junior college locally, which decreases involvement.

"I think surely it impacts participation in the program," she said.

Ayers said she did not want to go to college in Cape Girardeau and will relocate to Park Hills, Mo., to attend Mineral Area College next year.

"I thought a community college would be a good transition from high school," Ayers said.

She said she will use the program to pay for her freshman year of school before transferring to Murray State University in Kentucky to finish a bachelor's degree in nursing. A housing scholarship will pay for her campus apartment at Mineral Area College, she said. Ayers has been in contact with counselors at Murray State to make sure she is taking the proper prerequisites.

"It's a good deal," she said. "Hopefully it'll transfer."

Ayers is one of 20 students on track to graduate with A+ eligibility at Central High School. Eight graduates received A+ designation last year.

Hunting for financing

Schaffner said 61 underclassmen are signed up for the program and enrollment is increasing.

"People are hunting for ways to finance their education because money is scarce," she said.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received $25.3 million this fiscal year to administer the progam statewide. There is state legislation pending to expand the program to four-year institutions. With about a week left in the legislative session, the bill is still in committee in the Senate and would also have to be passed by the House.

The program has been available to use at Southeast Missouri State University regional campuses in Sikeston, Kennett and Malden since 2005, said Dr. Deborah Below, Southeast's director of admissions. It is also available for two associate degree programs at the main campus in Cape Girardeau.

Below said more Central High School students are asking about using the program at the regional center in Sikeston. Sikeston High School has the most A+ students at Southeast this year with seven. High schools in Kennett, Malden and Puxico each contributed four students.

Similarly, high schools near other colleges contribute more students to the program. At Mineral Area College, students from 43 high schools are eligible for the program. North County High School in Bonne Terre, Mo., contributed the most students with 96. Bonne Terre is about seven miles from the college. Farmington, which is about eight miles away, contributed the second-highest number of students, 84. Central High School in Park Hills has 78 A+ students attending the college.

Three students from Cape Girardeau Central High School, nine from Oak Ridge High School and 60 from Perryville High School are using the program at Mineral Area College.

Oak Ridge High School principal Allan Horrell said all high school students are enrolled in the program. Last year 10 students graduated with A+ status out of a class of 24.

"When they start out, their intention is to use it as a springboard into a four-year college," he said.

Horrell said most students use the program at Mineral Area College. He said students have not expressed concern about the lack of community college options locally. Oak Ridge has been an A+ school since 2001, he said.

There are 274 A+ schools statewide, including Woodland School District in Marble Hill, which gained the designation this year. The Jackson School District is also working on securing the designation. The class of 2010 will be the first to take advantage of the program if the school receives final approval in the fall, said Becky Riney, the district's A+ coordinator. She said more than 90 students are signed up for the program so far.

"Parents do have a lot of questions mainly because of the economy right now," she said. "They want to make sure they have something set up for their son or daughter."

More questions

She said she anticipates more questions about availability as the program continues because the area lacks access to community colleges.

"I think we're missing a lot of students because they're not sure if they're cut out for a four-year college or university," she said.

Like Andrew Shupert, a senior at Central High School, not all students use the funding after completing the program requirements. Shupert will attend Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis on three renewable scholarships through the university.

"Once I got those scholarships, I decided," he said. Before receiving the scholarships, he said he considered using A+ funding to attend a Southeast regional campus.

Schaffner, the school's coordinator, said most Central students aim for four-year degrees and will forgo the program for a campus experience at a four-year university, if other scholarships are available.

Shupert tutored biology students to fulfill his mentoring requirement. He said having a backup plan was worthwhile even though he is not using the money from the program. Meeting the requirements was not a challenge, he said.

"I heard A+ and I thought, 'I don't really make A-pluses anymore,'" he said. "I think everyone thinks it's a lot more work than it is."

abusch@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

1000 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, MO