Miami University students may be seeing more young faces around campus if Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has his way.
Strickland proposed during his 2008 State of the State address a "Seniors to Sophomores" program-a system where eligible high school seniors would attend an Ohio public university for free.
According to Amanda Wurst, deputy communications director for Strickland, under this program, students would take a full load of classes at the university, graduate high school and essentially enter college as a sophomore.
"Students would be able to get a full year of college under their belt," Wurst said.
This early college program is similar to the post secondary enrollment option offered in some public schools, and according to the State of the State address, Strickland is looking to build upon this idea for his new proposal.
"(Post secondary) programs like this have been successful in the past," Wurst said.
Wurst said the program is set to start in the fall with a pilot group of schools, and then it will extend across Ohio the following year. She said the list of pilot high schools is currently being compiled and that these schools would correspond to the local college or university of the city.The requirements for an eligible student have not yet been determined, according to Wurst. However, the eligibility would most likely vary from school to school.
"Schools and colleges will actually work together at the local level to determine what the requirements will be," Wurst said.
The funding for this program is still being worked out, Wurst explained. The students will be able to attend the universities free of cost, but how the funding is going to be split up between the public schools and the universities will be left up to the schools themselves.
"The schools and the university will develop a partnership to ensure there is equitable share of the money," Wurst said.
This initiative will greatly impact both Talawanda High School and Miami, according to Holli Morrish, community relations coordinator at the Talawanda School District.
According to Morrish, there is already a partnership set up between Miami and the high school, but not to the extent that Strickland is suggesting.
"We certainly don't have a system now where students can opt out of their senior year," Morrish said. "But they have the opportunity to take college level classes for credit now at Miami."
While Morrish said Talawanda is excited to see the details of the final proposal by Strickland, the school has expressed a number of concerns.
This new change in direction for education could impact the public schools that already have their schedules set for this year, Morrish said. Talawanda already has its entire schedule set for next year, and that several surrounding schools have their schedules set two years in advance.
"That could affect our scheduling, our contracts with the teachers and ultimately our finances," Morrish said.
The maturity level of students is also a concern, as career options and emotional maturity must be taken into account.
"A lot of young people have to prepare to go to college," she said. "Our guidance department is going to really have to work with students."
Morrish believes that for this, parents are going to have to evaluate their children's individual needs.
"On a student-by-student basis, parents are going to have to evaluate if that is the best route for their child," she said.
Another concern is the honors and elective courses currently offered for seniors. If many seniors opt out of their senior year, the ability of the school district to offer a multitude of these different courses may be limited.
"What you could see is a reduction in the number of students taking those elective courses," Morrish said.
But Talawanda is still hopeful that the proposal will address their concerns in time, Morrish said.
Miami's Office of Admission was unavailable for comment.
Wurst said Strickland hopes that this new initiative will show students that college is approachable and will give them the skills they need to do well in college and careers.
"They will gain the confidence that they will be successful in college," Wurst said.
