How much further ahead would you be in life if you had earned an associates degree at age 18 at no cost to you or your family?
Would the value equal more than the $4,000 in college costs you saved? Could you put a dollar amount on the jump-start it would have given you toward your career success or higher education goals?
The Alamo Colleges District knows you can’t put a price on the benefits to students who take part in our partnerships with local school districts for dual-credit and early-college high school programs.
We invest in these programs to give high school students an edge, and provide them the opportunity for an education they might not have access to otherwise. The investment comes back to our community, by providing an educated workforce and students prepared to succeed at a university.
Not only do the programs provide value and a head start, but they are also providing a quality education.
In recognition of this fact, Travis Early College High School is being honored as a 2017 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The school is part of the San Antonio Independent School District and is an academic program partner of Alamo Colleges District-San Antonio College.
The mission of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is to recognize academic excellence and close achievement gaps among student subgroups. Travis Early College High School exemplifies that mission.
SAISD and San Antonio College partnership is rich in opportunity for our diverse communities. San Antonio College is one of the largest Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the nation, and 98 percent of SAISD students are minorities, while 93 percent are economically disadvantaged.
Travis Early College High School and SAC are both located in the heart of San Antonio, just one street apart, a key to providing an immersive experience. That’s just one of the ways in which the partnership is closing the gaps for Hispanic students and increasing the number of degrees awarded in Texas.
Rigorous instruction and accelerated courses provided by San Antonio College and SAISD faculty and staff, coupled with the hard work and dedication of students, led to 86 percent of Travis’ students earning a college credential in 2014.
However, these students don’t simply earn a degree, they excel academically.
Travis Early College High School’s 2015 graduating class received more than $6 million in scholarship offers from colleges and universities nationwide.
The program proves that with opportunities to leverage a free start in college, combined with hard work and quality instruction, students can have brighter futures without the baggage of extra debt, the obstacles of the unknown, or the lack of social and academic support some people face as first-time college students.
The Alamo Colleges District is proud of the work and the partnerships that make Travis Early College High School, and our 16 other early college high schools, a means by which to shape a more educated and financially stable community.
Yvonne Katz chairs the Alamo Colleges District board of trustees.