by Barbara Edtl Shelton

This program in Washington State is called Running Start; other states have similar programs known as Dual Enrollment. They all operate in a similar manner. In a nutshell, the way they work is that a student who is a junior in high school may take classes at a local community college, and at the end of the two years, assuming the right classes have been taken, they will have earned a diploma from high school AND a two-year Associates Degree from the college. Tuition may or may not be paid for by the state; books are paid for by the student. [Editor's note: in Texas, dual enrollment at the community colleges is open to homeschoolers without enrollment in public school]

The student must be enrolled at a local public high school because funds from the state are channeled through the high school to the college. So homeschooled students may theoretically enroll at the local high school, not take even a single class, but take all their classes at the college. I say theoretically because when I interviewed the Dean of Admissions at our community college, I quizzed her very specifically about this and she stated this was all correct. (I included this interview on my 6-hour video-seminar called "Senior High Homeschooling Options Resources.") Problems may occur when those in charge of this program at the college or high school either don't fully understand the technicalities or have biases against homeschooled students and simply opt to make their own regulations that may make it more difficult or impossible to fulfill.

While tuition may be free within the context of some programs, there are several "hoops" to jump through before you are at the "free" stage. It's not just an automatic thing. You need to check into the regulations and procedures for enrolling in this program. There are certain requirements and deadlines to follow. I just don't want anyone thinking they can just walk into the registration office of their local community college and say "Well, I have a high school student here who'd like to take a few classes for free."

Next, let me say that I realize this IS a good option for some. But it is vital that you consider much more than just the financial advantages as you make a decision. Let me add a few thoughts on this subject just to give you a "bigger picture" to consider as you decide whether or not this option is for you.

If you participate in this type of a program in the way most of them were set up to be used, your student would enroll for a "full load" for each term of the last two years of high school, which are concurrently ALSO the first two years of college. It is possible to take just a class or two. What it really amounts to is "early college enrollment." Yes, this is an option FOR homeschoolers, and a very attractive one at first glance. While on one hand the tuition for two years of college is paid for by the state, there are hidden "prices" to be paid by those who participate.

The first one that, quite surprisingly to me, doesn't seem to dawn on people, is that if a student enters this program, he is no longer homeschooling! He is going away from home to attend college! This alone nixed it for me! My years with my kids are already too short! I'm not selling my birthright for a "bowl of alphabet soup!" I believe the highest "price" you pay is the loss of the last two vital years with your child! There is much more going into the "education" of our children than merely academics. In fact, I have recently put together what I call "Wisdom's 7 Pillars for True Education" — only one of which is the academic aspect!

Now, if you prepared for early college entrance, planned ahead, discipled your child, and prepared him/her thoroughly for the college influences and worldly philosophy, and KNOW (that you know) that this is God's leading and timing for your student, it's one thing. But to just hear about this option and say, "Wow! Free college!" without considering your VISION for the WHOLE child, not just the academic and financial aspects, is short-sighted at best. Nothing is really free; you are paying a price for this avenue. You had best be certain you are able to "pay." Here's what I mean...

Personally, I don't think that even most 18-year-old high school graduates are truly ready for the worldly, often anti-Christian thinking that abounds at colleges, even community colleges, and even at many Christian colleges, let alone a 16-year-old entering college via this program. (This doesn't mean they don't exist; I just haven't met one — not even my own offspring, and they are pretty strong in their faith.) Spiritual maturity is my chief concern here; almost anyone can be academically ready for college at an early age, but spiritual maturity is entirely different. I personally think it takes many years for a person to have gained enough maturity to enter the college scene and not have it affect their faith.

These programs are not "homeschooling options." Once you enter this program on a full-load basis, you are no longer homeschooling. So in reality these are "options that are open to homeschoolers" but, to repeat myself, they are not a "homeschooling option." It is really just "early college entrance."

If that is the direction you feel God is taking your student, great. But I urge each parent and child to earnestly seek God on this and to not allow the enticement of free tuition to rank very high — if at all — on your list of motivating factors. If community college is part of God's plan for your student and money is a challenge, as it is for most, I believe God will provide another way. And even if that "way" is the student working for a year before entering college, so be it. God can, if given the opportunity and the whole heart, make the most of any situation. Our son, after graduating last summer, is currently doing a year of "in-depth studies and discipleship" at home, and is also working to earn money to attend college this coming year. I believe that he would not have been ready, even if he (or we) had had the money this last year. His studies are preparing him for the anti-God views he is going to come up against at the community college he'll attend next year.

Our job is simply to obey God: "My sheep know Me, and hear My voice." And where God leads, He also provides. The risk of the world snatching away the heart and values of my child is too great to choose this option merely and primarily for financial and get-college-done-early motivations. Don't sell your (child's) soul for a cup of soup. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose his soul?"

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© Copyright 1999 / Permission granted to reproduce for
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Barb Shelton / 182 No. Columbia Hts. Rd. / Longview, WA 98632

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