News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech Dual Enrollment tuition is set to increase, but Tech officials say it is still affordable for local high schoolers.
Assistant Director of Admissions and Dual Enrollment Manager Ted McWilliams said the Board of Trustees approved a Dual Enrollment tuition increase from $178 to some $190 per credit hour. He said a state grant pays for students’ first five classes, and $100 per credit hour for the next five, which the school matches. He said the program remains cost-effective at just a fraction of what college students pay for the same classes.
“It gives students an opportunity to save a lot of money,” McWilliams said. “And one way is, they get the super low tuition rate, about a third of normal tuition. The other is if they get these out while they’re in high school and everything, then they get to bypass them. You know, they get college credit for them anyway.”
McWilliams said even with the increase, Dual Enrollment students would only be paying some $550 for an introductory college course, compared to some $1,400 for a college freshman. He said as long as the university keeps dual enrollment tuition low enough for the state grant and the university match to lift most of the financial burden for students, costs should remain manageable.
“If it wasn’t for all of the other headlines across the news and stuff, one of the biggest ones that’s continuous every year is college debt,” McWilliams said. “And so, what dual enrollment, offered by us and other community colleges or other universities and stuff, they give the opportunity for a student to go ahead and get a jump-start on the college credits.”
He said he expects some 400 students to take advantage of the program this year, up some 250 from 2020, proving it to be affordable. He said dual enrollment’s expansion is also partially due to more programs being added.
“With American Sign Language and French 1010 and German Culture, we’re opening it up to, basically, any Tennessee high school students,” McWilliams said.
