Hinds Community College News August 10, 2012 Partnership with high schools helps drive enrollment increase An influx of high school students taking dual enrollment/dual credit courses at Hinds Community College is helping to fuel an increase in part-time academic enrollment on the Rankin Campus. College-wide, enrollment is about the same as this time last fall. In 2007, when the recession hit, Hinds began several semesters of record-breaking enrollment. Although the college is not continuing to break records, enrollment is stable. Registration continues through Friday, Aug. 10. Late registration is Aug. 13-17. Fall classes begin on Aug. 13. The largest increase both in terms of percent and raw number is at the Rankin Campus, but numbers fluctuate each day. Much of that increase is being driven by part-time academic enrollment, which has nearly doubled since this time last year. "I believe this is due to the increase in dual credit/dual enrollment opportunities at high schools in Rankin County and Pearl," said Sherry Franklin, dean of Student Affairs at the Rankin Campus. "The students have been registering earlier than they have been in the past and it is reflecting in our number of part-time academic students." Hinds Community College's dual credit program continues to grow as more than 430 high school students received credit for both high school and college in 2011-2012, with 19 local high schools participating. "Just in Rankin County schools alone, Hinds has received applications for 690 high school students for this fall, " said Kathryn Cole, director of Enrollment Services. "Hinds courses taught in the high school are offered tuition free, saving students time and money while they get a head start on college." Jackson schools signed a dual credit agreement with Hinds on May 10 to begin teaching college courses this fall, Cole said. State leadership has been putting more focus on partnerships between community colleges and high schools with such legislation as Mississippi Works, which modified the existing dual credit program to allow K-12 schools to transfer average daily attendance (ADA) dollars to community colleges for students in specially crafted programs for high school dropouts. Those programs allow students to complete high school coursework while learning job skills and earning college credit toward a postsecondary credential, certificate or degree. Hinds is beginning a similar program, called Gateway to College, with Rankin County schools this fall. Targeting recent high school dropouts or students at risk for dropping out, the innovative and successful model is a second chance for students to get a high school diploma, while dually enrolled on a community college campus. Enrollment in technical classes at the Rankin Campus has also increased. As of Aug. 6, that was up 17 percent. "Over the last seven years, we have added welding, electrical, aviation technology, entertainment media and fashion marketing," said David Campbell, dean of career-technical education on the Rankin Campus. However, college officials are concerned about new federal financial aid eligibility restrictions that went into effect July 1 that could impact final fall enrollment numbers. One of the changes in the new law requires colleges to factor summer courses into eligibility consideration. "More than 200 Hinds students who have pre-registered for fall and who were previously eligible for Pell grants are not eligible under the new law," said Debbi Braswell, assistant director for financial aid. Among the 200 are students who did not meet performance requirements such as grade point average and those who have taken too many courses without getting a degree or already have two degrees. Additionally, students are now limited to 12 full semesters of federal Pell Grant instead of 16 semesters - "a great concern that we need to make sure students understand," said Dr. Barbara Blankenship, district dean of students. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-520-0593 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/2012meeting-form.html for the October 21-23, 2012 HBCU Library Alliance 5th Membership Meeting and the Photographic Preservation Pre-Conference in New Orleans, LA. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.