PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — One course from Northern Maine Community College’s summer roster is free to high school students in the dual enrollment program and to graduating high school seniors.
“This is a great way for students to get a jumpstart to college,” Wendy Bradstreet, director of admissions, said. “This will be our third year. We piloted it for high school seniors and we have had increasing participation each year.”
Bradstreet explained that in the dual enrollment program, high school students have the opportunity to take 12 tuition-free college credits a year, but graduating seniors age out of that program.
So, by extending the free-course offering to graduating seniors, it gives more students the opportunity to take a course at no-cost and to start college ahead of the game.
Any graduating senior in The County, or the state for that matter, can register for the summer course, Bradstreet said, adding that this is a system-wide offering. And because NMCC summer courses are all online, students do not have to travel.
NMCC courses cost $96 a credit hour, so if a student chooses to take the 4-credit anatomy and physiology course, the savings is $384.
By the time some high school students graduate, they already have taken most of their general education requirements and they can start right into their major courses. Bradstreet shares the story of an Ashland District High School student, Jamie Poulin, who did finish all her general education requirements and when she enters NMCC this fall, she starts right in on her nursing classes.
High school students can save thousands on their future college costs, Bradstreet said.
Courses have different start dates from May through June. Some of this summer’s offerings include English composition, math, general psychology, medical terminology, anatomy and physiology I and II, and introduction to nutrition.
For information, dual enrollment students should talk to the high school guidance counselor and graduating seniors should contact Sarah Stackhouse, nsstackh@nmcc.edu.
