MCC dual enrollment costs may drop for some high-schoolers under new state formula

In fact, they say the new system may actually lower some high school students’ costs for studying at MCC.

Some school districts, on the other hand, are being asked to defray the cost of books for lower-income students who qualify for free or reduced school meals. In the past, between 35% and 40% of MCC’s dual credit students fell into that category.

House Bill 8, approved last spring, ties community college funding to outcomes such as how many students complete degrees and certifications.

In recent weeks, Fred Hills, MCC vice president for instruction and student engagement, has joined director of educational partnerships Londa Carriveau in visiting 18 McLennan County school districts and several private and charter schools to discuss the new law’s impact on dual credit.

Dual credit students are an important part of MCC, accounting for 24% of its enrolled students, Carriveau said.

The pandemic set back dual enrollment as it disrupted secondary school and college instruction, concerning MCC administrators and trustees. Carriveau said dual enrollment numbers have rebounded this year, approaching the pre-pandemic norm of about 2,200 dual enrollment students.

Provisions in House Bill 8 and action by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board lowered the tuition rate that community colleges charge for dual credit classes to $71 per credit hour, about $6 less than before. Students now paying dual credit tuition may see their cost reduced as a result.

The shift to outcome- or performance based funding, however, means state reimbursement hinges on a student’s completion of at least 15 hours of dual credit classes. That could mean a delay in reimbursement for MCC as it often takes two or more semesters for high school students to complete 15 hours of college classes.

And some students take fewer than 15 hours before graduation, Hills said.

“We are figuring that out right now,” he said.

In a presentation to MCC trustees on Jan. 30, Hills and Carriveau calculated that under the new system, MCC would get $772,364 in performance funding for dual enrollment students, down about $40,000 from the old contact hour funding model.

However, that loss would be more than offset under a state program called Financial Aid for Swift Transfer.

FAST will bring MCC an additional $373,288 in state revenues to pay for tuition, fees and books for dual credit students who qualify for free and reduced meals at public schools.

While MCC has covered the tuition of economically disadvantaged dual enrollment students in the past, FAST would pick up much of that cost and expand eligibility by including any student who has qualified for free and reduced lunches at any time over the last four years.

“We’ve been subsidizing the rate, but under FAST we wouldn’t be subsidizing it as much,” Hills said.

A chart provided by MCC staff showed that under the new system, dual enrollment tuition and fees would bring in $984,614, down from $1.2 million before HB 8. MCC’s subsidies and discounts to the program would be $1.25 million, MCC officials estimate.

Community colleges must choose whether to opt in to the FAST program, and MCC will do so beginning next fall. 

But MCC is asking some local districts to consider shouldering some of the cost of providing books and other instructional materials for FAST-eligible students, as Waco and La Vega ISDs already do. It would cost MCC an estimated $56,762 to provide books to FAST-eligible students from the other districts.

MCC also is asking districts to make at least 15 hours of dual credit classes available to their students.

The discussions are taking place as many school districts prepare their budgets for the 2024-25 school year.

Both Hills and Carriveau said MCC remains firmly committed to supporting its dual credit offerings and making higher education affordable to the community.

“We want to grow (the dual credit program), but in a thoughtful and purposeful way,” Carriveau said.