Students explore college options

SANDPOINT — Idaho’s college graduation rates are a major problem, and local education organizations aim to do something about that.

The Bonner County Communiversity and Sandpoint Charter School teamed up Thursday night to encourage kids in their post-high school education. They were aided by representatives from several nearby schools, including the University of Idaho, North Idaho College and the University of Montana. Attending students toured the colleges’ booths, spoke to their employees and began considering options to make school affordable. According to Sandpoint Charter School Principal Alan Millar and Communiversity board member Jim Zuberbuhler, one of the best ways to increase the odds of graduation is to participate in dual-enrollment classes while still in high school.

Of course, dual enrollment classes also require some thoughtful planning.“You have to be very careful when working at a college level,” North Idaho College dual credit coordinator Ginger Winckler said. “If you get an F in the college class, you also fail the high school requirement.”

For those that make the early transition into college material, however, the opportunity is well worth the extra effort. A little diligence can put a high school student dozens of college credits ahead of the game by the time he or she graduates high school. With the recent reduction of a four-year major in Idaho from a minimum 128 credits to 120, that can amount to significant progress right out of the gate. Even better, dual enrollment credits come at a fraction of the cost of straight college credits. That helps alleviate another huge obstacle standing between students and college graduation — the prohibitive costs.

Helpful programs like dual enrollment are certainly welcome. Idaho ranks among the lowest states in the nation when it comes to college graduation. At the beginning of the evening, Millar led the group in an exercise demonstrating that fact. Asking everyone to stand, he then had representative sections sit one by one until only a few remained. They represented the 10 out of 100 Idaho residents who would graduate a two-year school within four years and the 26 out of 100 graduates of a four-year school within eight years.

“If you don’t want to be one of those folks sitting down, you need to think hard about about this,” Millar said.