Vineyard high school students have the opportunity to get a jump-start on their college career due to a new designation the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) received this year.
In collaboration with Middlesex Community College, and with priority given to students who will be the first in their family to attend college, the high school is offering free college credits to 25 total students in grades 9 through 12 this year.
“Last year was the first year we partnered, and this year is the first with the [early college] designation,” the dean of K–16 partnerships at Middlesex Community College, Melissa Chandonnet, said in an interview. As for the classes they offer to high school students: “They’re highly transferable courses.”
The program was offered last school year as well, but the credits cost the school nearly $30,000 in order to keep the courses free for students. MVRHS had a grant and discount from Middlesex Community College to help with the financial aspect, so it didn’t pay that much out-of-pocket, but with the new state designation as an early college high school — which MVRHS received this past June — this year, the program is completely free for students and the administration.
School officials said this program intends to bring college to younger students who may have not considered higher education, or who may be unfamiliar with the process if they’d be a first-generation college student.
The possibility of entering college with a few courses already done also has the potential to help with the significant cost burden for students and their families. Each credit has an estimated cost of about $130, and each course is three to four credits. Students who enroll in the early college program during high school could save almost $10,000 on college tuition.
One freshman, Emery Fullin, was taking diligent notes about the program, glancing up at the slide on the pull-down screen every few seconds, then back down at her spiral-bound notebook.
“I definitely want to do this,” she said in an interview after the presentation. If Fullin enrolls in the program as a freshman, she could complete 25 college credits by the time she graduates from high school, at no additional cost to her: “It sounds like an amazing opportunity.”
The courses will be taught by MVRHS teachers, but at a college level. The equivalent of a three-credit course that translates to a sociology intro-level class will be mandatory for freshmen through juniors.
“The teachers at each high school have to be accredited,” Chandonnet said. “We focus a lot on the general-education classes … [But] we have high-interest courses as well.”
Most of the offerings last year were for English composition, sociology, and math, but Chandonnet said there’s a more diverse selection of courses as well, if students are interested, such as science or criminal justice.
MVRHS is one of 40 schools partnering with Middlesex Community College, but it is one of the few with the early college designation.
