Spring 2002
(DALLAS)
— "Live, learn and save!" That's the idea behind a pilot program
started last spring in the Dallas County Community College District
which offers reduced tuition — half price — to students who take classes
during specific afternoon and weekend hours. Through the test program,
DCCCD seeks to maximize the use of facilities during traditionally
under-utilized times, to offer students excellent prices on those
courses and to increase access to its programs.
"DCCCD was
chosen by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board as one of eight
institutions in the state to pilot this new program," explained Dr.
William Wenrich, the district's chancellor. "During its last session,
legislators passed a bill that would allow community colleges to charge
varying tuition on a pilot basis, and the Coordinating Board is
proceeding with the program's implementation for a year to see how well
the concept works."
DCCCD is the only school or system in the
Dallas/Fort Worth area involved in the reduced tuition pilot program.
Members of the district's board of trustees gave their approval during
the group's November 2001 board meeting to implement the process,
beginning with the spring 2002 semester and continuing with fall 2002
and spring 2003. The district also received permission to extend the
pilot program to spring 2003.
DCCCD told members of the
Coordinating Board that 13,645 students signed up during off-peak times
in fall 2001 before the new reduced tuition pilot program began. During
fall 2002, the enrollment in off-peak times was 19,621 — a 44 percent
increase for that time period. Following DCCCD's report, the
Coordinating Board voted in late October to ask the Legislature to allow
all Texas community colleges to offer the discounts.
"It's a
question of access," explained Dr. Robert Aguero, DCCCD vice chancellor
for educational affairs, who presented the report to the board. "We're
attracting people who don't qualify for financial aid, like working
moms."
Reduced tuition for students means more opportunities to
take specific classes at half the normal cost of $78 per three-hour
course at in-district rates. "We are offering students a chance to
advance themselves and their careers and to save money," said Bob Brown,
DCCCD vice chancellor for business affairs. "And, during a time in
which the job market has tightened and thousands of people are out of
work, this pilot program gives people a chance either to update their
skills or to change career fields altogether."
Statewide, 2,723
full-time equivalent students have enrolled in half-price classes at
selected community colleges since January - a number that represents
thousands of actual students, who often take fewer classes than a
traditional full-time student because they are working and going to
school. DCCCD had 1,542 full-time equivalents in the reduced tuition
pilot program classes.
Classes in the pilot program include
those courses that start between 1:30 and 4:15 p.m., Monday through
Thursday; and courses held between 1:30 p.m. Friday through 11 p.m.
Sunday (weekend classes). The pilot program classes do not include
summer sessions, mini-mesters (winter and May classes), flex entry
(except flex-entry weekend classes), fast track or distance learning
courses.
The reduced tuition cost is 50 percent (or half) of the
regular tuition charged across all origins of residence: in-county,
out-of-county or out-of-state/out-of-country. Currently, DCCCD charges
$26 per credit hour as its regular tuition rate for in-county residents;
under the reduced tuition pilot program, students would pay $13 per
credit hour for classes that are scheduled during the specified
afternoon and weekend time schedules.
"The classes affected by
this pilot program are regular semester credit classes only," said
Brown. "We believe that students across Dallas County are excited by the
prospect of going to class and saving money as they build their own
marketability. In turn, we will be able to use our facilities more
efficiently. We also believe that students who can move from morning to
afternoon schedules are leaving seats in morning classes that we can
fill with other students."
All seven colleges within DCCCD offer
courses through the reduced tuition pilot program in spring and fall
semesters for 2002; however, the kinds of courses and the number of
classes vary from campus to campus.
Most campuses offer a
variety of business classes and general core courses, such as English,
mathematics, history, government, performing arts, foreign languages,
visual arts, psychology, sociology and others. Most campuses offer
developmental courses; either ESOL or bilingual education courses; and
computer science or computer information classes.
More
specialized classes have limited enrollments at specific locations, such
as health care (nursing, nutrition, veterinary technology, medical
assisting, surgical technician and vocational nursing); electronics;
child care; interior design; fashion design; culinary arts, restaurant
management; welding; hospitality; architectural engineering;
construction; electronic telecommunications; and others.
Interested
persons should contact the individual college they wish to attend for
more information about specific classes and costs.
DCCCD, which
serves approximately 62,000 credit students from throughout Dallas
County, comprises Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch/Carrollton; Cedar
Valley College in Lancaster; Eastfield College in Mesquite; El Centro
College in downtown Dallas; Mountain View College in Oak Cliff; North
Lake College in Irving; and Richland College in Richardson; plus the
Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development and the LeCroy Center
for Educational Telecommunications.