Guilford County Schools looks to increase student access to dual enrollment programs next year

As Guilford County students graduate this week, over a thousand of them are walking away with college credits thanks to dual enrollment opportunities. The school district is working to expand access to these options next year. 

North Carolina’s Career and College Promise Program allows students to enroll in college classes through their high school and earn transferable credits, certificates, diplomas and sometimes even associate degrees. 

In Guilford County, dual enrollment students take courses at Guilford Technical Community College — tuition-free. 

Some of them are taking general classes they would otherwise have to complete their freshman year of college. Others are participating in a Career and Technical Education Pathway, like manufacturing technology, culinary arts and firefighting. 

Guilford County Schools Superintendent Whitney Oakley says the program saves them time and money, which she says should be a district priority. 

“This whole concept around breaking generational poverty by making sure students can go directly from K-12 into a sustainable high-wage, high-demand career is what we should be standing for," Oakley said. "It's what we should be making decisions around.”

Dual enrollment in GCS increased by 46% last year. Oakley says these students took more than 10,000 courses, amounting to an estimated $2 million in tuition savings.

She says she wants to keep the program’s momentum going by communicating the option to families early on and removing barriers to access. 

“A student said to me, ‘I didn't even know this was a choice. I didn't even know that I could be earning college credit.' And that's when we knew we had to figure it out at a systems level, so that all students have that access," Oakley said. 

The district is partnering with the Greensboro Transit Authority to provide transportation for dual enrollment students at four high schools starting in the fall. 

Oakley says they’re also going to work with the college to better align schedules, and find outside funding sources to cover the cost of students’ books and fees. 

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.