By Jeff Salisbury jeffsalisbury@charter.net
The headline in the Allegan County News read, or almost shouted: PROGRAM PROVIDES FREE ASSOCIATE DEGREES TO ALLEGAN COUNTY STUDENTS and then opened with this…
“The new Early College/ Allegan County program is set to begin in the fall, thanks to a partnership between the Allegan Area Educational Service Agency, Lake Michigan College and the local districts.
“This is a big day for the families and students of Allegan County’s local districts,” said AAESA Superintendent Mark Dobias. The program allows 50 students under the AAESA umbrella to commit to an additional year of high school, or grade 13. At the end of their 13th year, students will graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree at no cost to the family.”
Tuition for the program — an early college rate that is the same as in-district tuition — will be paid by the student’s local district out of its foundation allowance — which the school will continue to receive for student’s 13th year.
Each year of the program, the amount of contact hours between the students and LMC increases, so the tuition does as well.
For the first year, total cost to the district per student is estimated to be $2,522.78 or 35.41 percent of the $7,126 foundation allowance, or per pupil funding.
[Wayland has 10 slots in 2015-16 so 10 x 2533.27 = $25, 332.70, which would need to be set aside in the district’s projected 2015-2016 budget.]
The second year tuition increases to $3,630.70 or 50.96 percent of the state foundation allowance [ 3630.70 x 10 students = $36,307.00 in the projected 2016-17 budget]; and the third year is estimated to be $41,184.60 or 58.63 percent of the state foundation allowance for 22 and 24 credit hours, respectively.
These estimates include a yearly tuition increase of 5 percent.
See link for full article —
http://www.allegannews.com/allegan-news-news-union-enterprise/program-provides-free-associate-degrees-allegan-county-students
Note: Just for comparison purposes of annual tuition costs – here’s how the “free” tuition at Lake Michigan College stacks up with some other prominent community colleges in West Michigan from LOW to HIGH:
- Kalamazoo Valley Community College (Fall 2014): $2,790
2. Kellogg Community College (Fall 2014): $3,285
3. Grand Rapids Community College (Fall 2014) $3,556
4. Glen Oaks Community College (Spring 2014) $3,684
5. Lake Michigan College (Spring 2014) $3,870
6. Southwestern Michigan College (Fall 2014) $4,650
Finally, it should be noted that this program has yet to come to the Wayland Board of Education for final approval, so it’s good to keep in mind that the board must approve these proposed expenditures like all proposed budget expenditures and make sure the projected budgets for the next three years include at least the amounts listed above are properly set aside.
Please attend the next meeting of the Wayland Board of Education with the reminder there’s no such as FREE college tuition – and remind trustees they should develop a clear and easy to explain philosophy which acts as the guiding principles for how best to spend general funds and casino revenue moving forward.
Wayland Union Schools – Board of Education Meetings & Workshops
• March 9 — Pine Street Elementary, 201 Pine St., Wayland – 7:00 p.m
• March 16 — Administration Building, 850 E. Superior, Wayland – 6:00 p.m
• March 23 — Administration Building, 850 E. Superior, Wayland – 6:00 p.m
• April 20 — Wayland Union Middle School, 701 Wildcat Drive, Wayland – 7:00 p.m
• May 18 — Wayland Union Middle School, 701 Wildcat Drive, Wayland – 7:00 p.m
• June 8 — Wayland Union Middle School, 701 Wildcat Drive, Wayland – 7:00 p.m
• July 13 — Administration Building, 850 E. Superior, Wayland – 7:00 p.m
• June 22— Administration Building, 850 E. Superior, Wayland – 7:00 p.m
BOARD MEMBERS
• Nancy Thelen, President, Email: nancyboe@waylandunion.net Phone: 616-877-3098
• Tom Salingue, Vice President, Email: tomboe@waylandunion.net Phone: 269-792-2061
• Toni Ordway, Treasurer, Email: ordwayt@waylandunion.net Phone: 269-910-3297
• Theresa Dobry, Secretary, Email: theresaboe@waylandunion.net Phone: 616-681-2119
• Pete Zondervan, Trustee, Email: zondervanp@waylandunion.net Phone: 616-450-1468
• Janel Hott, Trustee, Email: hottj@waylandunion.net Phone: (h) 269-792-0297 (c) 269-250-0286
• Gary Wood, Trustee, Email: glw_boe@yahoo.com Phone: 616-681-2120
