(BOISE) – For two students in eastern Idaho, the State Department of Education’s Advanced Opportunities Program has done more than get them started early on earning college credits; it’s given them the crucial confidence they can succeed in college.
That’s important
for many students, who are unsure if they have what it takes to go on to
college. The state has set a goal of getting 60 percent of its high
school graduates to go on and earn college or other post-secondary degrees or
certifications.
“Before I took any
of the dual credit classes I was very nervous and anxious about college and had
an overwhelming feeling of possible failure of a course,” said Narda Lopez, who
graduated from Ririe High School this spring and now is attending Idaho State
University with a long-term goal of obtaining a doctorate in dental surgery.
“After I took the (Advanced Opportunities) dual credit classes, I felt more
reassured and positive about my future college experience. From an educational
standpoint they encouraged me to work just as hard in my regular high
school classes.”
Advanced
Opportunities involves four distinct but related programs where the state
reimburses all or part of the costs to help students graduate early or with
significant college credits already in hand by the time they leave high school.
The 8-in-6 Program allows students in grades 7-12 to take summer and overload
courses. Fast Forward is available to high school juniors and seniors to help
them pay for dual credit courses—classes that count both for graduation and as
college credit.
As part of the
Early Completers Program, students who have completed state graduation
requirements (except for senior-only courses) can use state aid to pay for dual
credit courses. And students who wind up graduating from high school at least
one year early are eligible for a scholarship of roughly $1,400 to an Idaho
post-secondary institution of their choice under the Mastery Advancement
Program. The state spent $3.5 million on subsidies and support for those
programs last year, but only 29 percent of the eligible students took advantage
of them.
Rebecca Bitikofer,
a 16-year-old student at Aberdeen High School, noted that the dual enrollment
classes she has taken at her high school “helped me to be inspired and work
harder in school. It’s a really fun challenge.”
“My mom raised me
and my two brothers and one sister on her own. She's an untraditional student
herself and she's been working towards getting her own degree. She's always
pushed me and my siblings to work hard and to go to college.”
Bitikofer began her
march toward college with the 8-in-6 program the summer before her freshman
year, after being encouraged to take advantage of the Advanced Opportunities
program by her middle school principal, Ann Menear.
She wants to become
an engineer and the Advanced Opportunities Program dual credit classes she’s
taking will help her get through the general studies requirements in college
and earn her degree faster.
“I know the savings
will be substantial,” for her family, and that’s important, she said. “Without
Advanced Opportunities I would have to spend close to two times as much on my
generals for college. I'm so appreciative for the chance to get ahead,” she
said, adding that by advancing through college faster because of the head start
she now has, she’ll not only save money but also will “be able to get a job
quickly.”
For Lopez, Advanced
Opportunities has been important to her family, as well. “I am a natural born
U.S. citizen, and my parents and brother are immigrants from Mexico. Both of my
parents do not have a high school diploma and have worked back-breaking jobs to
provide for my brother and me. My brother and I are the first generation to
attend college…. Watching my parents struggle to provide for our family
definitely instilled a good work ethic in myself.”
After being
encouraged to do so by her principal, Chad Williams, “to save money in my
future college endeavor,” Lopez began utilizing Advanced Opportunities in her
sophomore year. She could have graduated in February of 2015, but stayed to
graduate with the rest of her class that May, in part in order to give herself
a chance to take one more college class under the Advanced Opportunities
Program. She estimates the college credits she earned while in high school have
saved her family at least $3,500.
The Advanced
Opportunities Program also helps give participants a heads up to the
differences between college and high school. “The college classes differ from
high school classes because the professors aren't concerned if I do my homework
or not,” said Lopez. “No one will chase me down to find out if I turned in an
assignment. I have to be self-motivated and push myself harder than I ever
needed to in high school in order to do well in my courses.”
Both Lopez and
Bitikofer said they have encouraged their fellow students to take advantage of
the Advanced Opportunities Program.
“If I could give
someone advice regarding the Advanced Opportunities programs, it would be to
take advantage of every single program there is,” Lopez said. “The benefit of
taking college classes in high school helped me both economically and socially.
I saved so much money, and I am more confident now about college because I knew
what to expect out of my courses. If I could go back in time and tell myself
one piece of advice, it would be to start the programs as soon as I began high
school.
“I am so thankful I
had the option to participate in the Fast Forward Program. The program truly
did make a difference in my academic career. I studied harder and wanted to
take as many college courses as I could possibly take. It opened up doors in my
academic career that I never even knew were there to begin with.”For more information about the state’s Advanced Opportunities programs, contact your local school’s guidance counselor or go to the State Department of Education website at http://www.sde.idaho.gov/sectr/adv-opp for more information
