Part 13: The EDGE Program
By Dr. Kathy J. D'Antoni, Vice Chancellor
Get an EDGE on your future. High school students have an opportunity to establish a college transcript while still in high school. These college credits are free, no cost. Plus, depending upon the associate degree they want to get, they may be able to earn one full year of college while still in high school.
What is the EDGE? It stands for Earn a Degree ▪ Graduate Early and it allows students to take certain high school courses for community and technical college credit. If the student passes the EDGE high school course and the final exam, they just fill out, sign and return a college enrollment form provided by their teacher and the course becomes college credit.
Who can participate? Anyone can participate. The courses are high school courses located in the skilled pathway in your cluster and major.
How will it help me? Students can earn a two-year Associate Degree with great savings. If they take the right courses in high school, they have the opportunity to save up to $3,000 in college tuition.
Why would I want to go to a community and technical college? There are great careers with good salaries available in only two years, such as, Dental Hygienists ($15,200 - $39, 500), Radiology Technicians (23,400 - $32, 000), Hotel and Motel Managers ($39,000 - $84,000), Surgical Technologists ($20,900 - $28,000) Paralegals ($23,900 - $40,000+), Civil Engineer Technician ($17,700 - $54,800), Mechanical Engineering Technicians ($23,000 - $64,000+), and many more.
How does the EDGE
program work?
1. Contact your high school counselor and tell them you want
to earn EDGE credits and establish a college transcript while you are still in
high school. There is no cost involved.
2. The teacher will inform the student if they
are offering the class for EDGE credit.
However, not all schools and teachers are participating. Students and parents should urge their schools
and teachers to offer EDGE if they are not currently doing so. All eligible schools and classes are listed
on http://www.wvtechprep.wvnet.edu/downloads.htm
. The teacher must sign up to teach EDGE.
It does not require anything special on the part of the school or
teacher, no additional curriculum or work, just the agreement from a teacher
that the class will be an EDGE class. At the end of the class, students who
pass the course and the final exam will fill out a college enrollment form and
the teacher will submit it to the Community and Technical College System.
3. Students do not have to select a school. The Community and
3. A student does not need to be in a degree
program to get credits. However, the earlier they can make a decision on a
degree program the better "jump" they will get on finishing a degree
in a shorter time frame and with greater savings.
4. Students and parents can go to the web site http://www.wvtechprpe.wvnet.edu or call the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia at 304.558.2411 to help them get started on their way to a college degree and a successful future.
TIP: Ask the first day of school what classes are being offered as EDGE classes and make sure you are taking advantage of this fantastic offer.
Get an EDGE on your future by starting
college in high school.
Additional Resources:
All "College Tips"
columns are available at http://www.newstribune.info
WV
Community and Technical
College System of West Virginia at http://www.wvtechprpe.wvnet.edu
(304.558.2411)
Mineral County Technical Center at http://mctc.mine.tec.wv.us/college.htm
Eastern Community and Technical College at http://www.eastern.wvnet.edu
(304-434-8000; or toll free:
Potomac State College of West Virginia University at http://www.potomacstatecollege.edu
or (304-788-6820 or toll free: