Doing Double Duty, Dual enrollment students finding success in college and life

Written by John Clayton
Published in Sandhills Telephone Cooperative's ConNEXTion Magazine March/April 2020

While getting through high school is demanding, some students add to the challenge by participating in Northeastern Technical College's dual enrollment program. More than 1,000 students in Chesterfield, Marlboro and Dillon counties are getting a head start on college while still in high school.

"When I first got here in 2016, we had about 100-120 students in our dual enrolment program. But by the end of May, we will have served 1,009 students," says NETC President Kyle Wagner. "High-speed internet has paved the way for that success. It's been delivered to all the high schools we service, as well as the private schools we work with."

Some dual enrollment students complete coursework while physically at their respective high schools, taking advantage of virtual classrooms to earn college credits. Others attend traditional classes at NETC's campuses.

Wagner says federally expanded Pell grant and assistance programs allow more high school students to afford the dual enrollment program, a major factor in increased participation.

The dual enrollment program launched 2016 Chesterfield High School graduate Kayla Gibson on an adventure that landed her in Alaska. This past June, Christopher Hyatt became the first Marlboro County High School student to graduate with both a high school diploma and an NETC associate degree at the same time. He enrolled this past fall at Clemson University as a junior.

TIGER TOWN-BOUND
Not surprisingly, Hyatt – who is attending Clemson's College of Engineering, Computing and Science – has done the math. By completing his associate degree through NETC over the course of his career at Marlboro County High, Hyatt estimates that he saved nearly $50,000.

A program through the South Carolina Education Lottery and federal funding kept Hyatt worry- and debt-free. "I knew my credits would transfer pretty much anywhere in the state," says Hyatt, who balanced academics from both high school and NETC with football.

In an article on the NETC website, Hyatt says, "The experience has challenged me to strive for better things and taught me that I have to work harder and smarter to get where I want to be in life."

A statewide agreement among state-supported schools guaranteed his credits would transfer. Hyatt chose Clemson over Coastal Carolina University and the College of Charleston and he says he was well-prepared for a junior-level course load at one of the nation's better computer science programs. "The different classes I'm taking are really hard," he says. "But I feel like I was really prepared."

Hyatt is considering pursuing a graduate degree after he receives his bachelor's in 2021. After that, he will move on to his career goals. "I want to go into cybersecurity and own my own security firm," he says.

WHAT'S IN A NOME?
Like Hyatt, Gibson arrived for her first year as a full-time college student as a junior. Two years later, she was a College of Charleston graduate with her sights set on pharmacy school at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. She is now living and working in Nome, Alaska, as a pharmacist with the Indian Health Service.

Her completion of NETC's dual enrollment program while at Chesterfield High School saved her money and time, but Gibson says it also helped her beyond the classroom. "It probably got me more focused," she says. "I know a lot of people who get to that first year of college, and they're a little shocked transitioning from high school. Since I started taking college courses in high school, it wasn't quite as much of a culture shock and overwhelming. It definitely helped me with time management."

And time was important to Gibson, who graduated College of Charleston at 20 and then finished pharmacy school at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. "I knew I wanted to get going. I wanted to get ahead," Gibson says of her choice to participate in the dual enrollment program. "But I don't think I realized it would be so beneficial. "

She believes anyone interested in a head start in college should consider the dual enrollment program through NETC. "You're going to be in the same place as someone who went all four years to that school," Gibson says. "But, you're going to be in less debt, so you can have that out of the way, and you can move forward to other things."

When it came time for Gibson to choose a spot for her required nonclinical rotation, she says she had simple criteria: "I wanted to go see places, and I wanted to go somewhere that has free housing."

She landed in Nome and then Montana, doing her nonclinical rotation with the Indian Health Service in both spots. When a job came open in Nome – 3,943 miles from Chesterfield – she took it. The Indian Health Service provides direct medical and public health services to Native American tribes and indigenous Alaskan people. Gibson says the people of Nome and the 11 villages surrounding it are served by her office, often by airplanes that fly medicines into those villages.

INTERESTED IN NNETC DUAL ENROLLMENT?
It is open to high school students who:
• are at least 16 and are juniors or seniors
• are in good standing and doing well in high school classes.
• have permission from their high school principal.
• have almost finished the high school curriculum and passed the exit exam.
• are ready for college-level work and have extra time in their schedules.

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