VALDOSTA, GA – Two years ago parents Bob and Constance Johnson brought their daughter Brianna to Wiregrass Georgia Technical College to see if she could enroll as a dual enrollment student. At the time Brianna was just 14. Her parents met with then President Ray Perren, and the high school advisor for the college to address concerns both sides had based on Brianna’s age combined with being a homeschool student never formally sitting in a classroom setting. After the meeting, an age waiver was granted and Brianna was officially accepted as a Wiregrass student.
Brianna took her last final exam at Wiregrass on August 6 of this year. She will participate in the Summer 2014 graduation ceremony on August 29 where she will receive two associates degrees, computer networking and computer support, and be recognized as an honor student for maintaining a 4.0 GPA. At the beginning of this journey her parents were concerned that she was too young to handle a college atmosphere; that she might not be academically ready for the rigor of college classes, and she was a first generation college student, so the entire family was experiencing college together for the first time through her. “Brianna kept her promise to us to work hard. We have watched our daughter blossom in the program at Wiregrass. The first day on campus, a shy young girl walked in the doors. She emerges now as a young lady with new confidence,” stated her parents in a letter written to current President Dr. Tina K. Anderson.
Prior to graduating Brianna was able to earn a part time position with Chancey Drugs in the IT department using the skills she learned at Wiregrass. “I’m now employed and using the skills Wiregrass taught me on the job daily,” stated Brianna. “I had some great instructors both during my core classes and in my computer courses. Their guidance and support made all the difference in my experience.” Brianna plans to continue her education as she works on a bachelor degree in information technology.
Wiregrass Georgia Technical College offers early college credit programs to area high school students in four ways. During the 2013-2014 school year, 1257 duplicated high school students like Brianna earned 9,132 college credits through those programs while also earning high school credit. Under the early college credit programs at Wiregrass, the majority of tuition and fees are covered by one of three grant programs. Any amount not covered by those grant programs is exempted for high school students. During the 2013-2014 school year the credits earned by high school students saved parents more than 1.3 million dollars at the Wiregrass tuition rate. (See attached chart for enrollment by high school for 2013-2014).
One of the early college credit programs offered by Wiregrass is the ACCEL program. Under the ACCEL program high school students earn degree level core credits in areas such as English, Math, History, Speech, Economics and more. The college credits earned through ACCEL are transferrable to any University System of Georgia College and any Technical College in Georgia as well as most private colleges under an articulation agreement between the systems. In addition, college credits taken while in high school in some cases count as rigor courses which aids a student in earning HOPE Scholarship eligibility and the courses do not count against HOPE cap hours upon graduating from high school.
To find out more about Wiregrass Georgia Technical College’s Early College Credit Program contact 229-333-2100 ext. 6163 or visit www.wiregras.edu.
Source: Wiregrass Georgia Technical College
