The Ranger Online

Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: News

Media Credit: D.A. James Resource specialist Andrea Peña works with students in the Gateway to College Program in Room 560 of Moody Learning Center Sept. 6. The program is designed to help high school students who are dropouts or on the verge of dropping out so they can go to this college.

Texas has a problem with its high school dropout rate, but a program new to this campus is determined to change that.

Gateway to College, which started its first semester at this college Aug. 27, is a program for high school dropouts and students in danger of dropping. This prepares them for college, and it is beginning that task with 51 students, 75 are expected in the spring.

Nancy Cobb, director of the program, said, "It should be our mission in life to have every young person be able to have a better lifestyle than what I have or what my parents had before me, and education's a key to that."

Data from the 2000 Census compiled by the Population Reference Bureau shows Texas' dropout rate for high school students age 16-18 to be 12.5 percent, exceeding the national rate of 9.8 percent. Bexar County alone saw 1,604 dropouts, or 1.2 percent, in its 2004-05 school year for grades seven through 12, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Founded in 2000 through a partnership with Portland Community College in Portland, Ore., and the Early College High School Initiative and now has 13 sites with two in San Antonio.

The program at this college received $300,000 in start-up funds for the first three years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, the Ford Foundation and Portland Community College. It is also funded by using a percentage of the average daily attendance funding from the school districts the students attended, Cobb said. The program receives, depending on the student, 80 percent to 85 percent of what the district would have received if the student remained in that district's school, she said.

Nancy Roell, lead teacher of the program here, said their approach is synergistic curriculum, meaning teachers plan their curriculum to incorporate common themes into each course.

Students qualify if they are age 16-20; have dropped out of high school or are in danger of not graduating; have earned fewer than 17 high school credits and are trailing in the required credits for their grade; and reside in the school districts of Alamo Heights, Comal, Northside, North East or San Antonio.

The enrollment process involves filling out an application, attending a two-hour information session and a two-day evaluation, an interview by a staff member from this campus and submitting a high school transcript and three essays.

Students and parents interested in enrollment in the spring must attend the Information and Orientation Process from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, in Room 560 of Moody Learning Center. The rest of the application process continues Wednesday and Thursday.

Students who are accepted have the cost of tuition, books, a parking permit or bus pass and a daily meal provided by the program.

While the cost spent for each student varies depending on their course load and need, Cobb said most students in the program take 12 hours of college courses - $691 in tuition and fees at this college - while some take 15 hours - $826.

Bus passes, parking permits - $25 per semester and $21 per year, respectively - and meals, which the program receives through San Antonio Independent School District and are funded through the Texas Department of Agriculture at $2.47 per day per student are covered. The cost of books can vary dramatically, with the San Antonio Express-News estimating that students at this college spend $700 to $1,000 each year on books.

Students must complete 26 high school credits to finish.

The application guidelines and forms may be obtained by logging on to www.accd.edu/sac/gateway or calling 785-6327.

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