This is Trent Darby, senior at Wylie High School and Collin College dual credit student (and his sister Makenzie). After high school, Trent will be able to transfer all twenty-four credit hours earned at WHS/Collin College to Oklahoma State University where he will pursue an engineering degree. In simple terms, thirty hours of college credit equals one year of a typical four-year degree program. Therefore with his 24 credits and AP credit, Trent will be a sophomore when he starts at the university.
Choosing dual credit allows students to receive high school and college credit at the same time. For example, students can take English at a college level and receive both high school and college credit.
The dual credit program will benefit both Trent and his family in many ways.
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He is a year closer to a college diploma.
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He has learned how to take college-level courses. Many kids get to college and find that the rigor and self-direction needed to succeed at the collegiate level is different than the experiences they had in high school.
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It is much less expensive. MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE!!! How much less, you ask?
*Because of the outstanding scores that he got on his college entrance exams, Trent’s college tuition was cut in half. I will talk more in an upcoming blog about the importance of taking the SAT/ACT. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!
Are you convinced yet? With a savings of nearly $37,000.00, Mr. and Mrs. Darby are certainly believers in the benefits of the program. I will be honest. I did not expect these differences in price comparison; and I do not think many other folks do either. This is proven by the amount of debt that college graduates are continuing to accrue. These days, seventy-five percent of graduates from colleges have loans with an average debt of $32,300.
More to Come
In Trent’s case, his experience is currently limited. He took all twenty-four hours that were available to him, but could not take some math classes because there were not dual credit options. With a ten- student requirement for a course, upper-level calculus classes for engineering are difficult to come by. When the new Collin College campus opens in Wylie, our students will have the opportunity to take any course in the first two years of their degree program. In fact, nurses can graduate with a college degree and an RN certification without ever leaving Collin College. This is only one example of the many opportunities that await our Wylie ISD students.
The Collin College Board of Trustees voted to call a bond program to fund a significant expansion program. The program supports the college’s “Vision 2020” master plan and will address the booming county population as well as a compounding demand for local workforce training and education. The plan includes a comprehensive Wylie campus that will be located on Country Club Road (FM 1378) across from Wylie City Hall.
The Wylie campus will serve 7,000 students in areas like architecture and construction, health science, STEM, logistics, manufacturing, energy, business, and information technology. The campus will also include a conference and events center.
The total cost of the bond program is $600 million, and there will be no impact on the overall tax rate.
For more information on Collin College’s Vision 2020, please visit: http://www.collin.edu/masterplan/index.html.
For more information on the bond election, please visit: http://www.ccbond17.com/about.html.
The election will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2017. If passed, these projects will enhance the local educational opportunities for the Wylie ISD community, including the addition of more dual credit opportunities that will help the “Trent Darby” of tomorrow and beyond.
If you have any questions regarding these upcoming plans, please do not hesitate to let us know. Preparing our kids for a prosperous life beyond high school is the Wylie Way!
