Superintendent: Early college expands access and lowers costs but strains small high school programs

Bridal Olsen Farrell, superintendent of the Slate Valley Unified Union School District, told an Education Committee session on Feb. 27, 2025, that Vermont’s early college program offers substantial academic and economic benefits to students but presents operational challenges for small rural high schools.

"The early college program provides substantial economic advantages both for families and for Vermont's economy," Farrell said, adding that the program gives high school seniors "tuition free college credits" and can reduce student loan debt and accelerate entry into the workforce.

Farrell said the district she oversees — which includes Fairhaven Union Middle and High School and serves students from Fairhaven, Castleton, Benson, Orwell, West Haven and Hubberton — has seen 69 students participate in early college over the past four years, and that 28 of this year’s 94 seniors attended early college before two returned to the high school in January.

Those numbers, she told lawmakers, have practical effects on high school offerings and operations. "Between early college and work based learning and CTE, more than 50% of our senior class does not attend school on campus," Farrell said. That reduction in on-campus enrollment, she said, can force schools either to run small Advanced Placement classes with very few students or to stop offering some upper-level courses altogether.

Farrell described several recurring problems her district faces when students enroll in early college: students are technically unenrolled from the high school (which creates communication gaps about academic progress), transportation to off-campus classes often falls to families, and not all college credits transfer to other institutions. She said these gaps can leave schools unaware when students are struggling in early college classes until transcripts arrive at term end.

"We don't have the authority to track them," Farrell said of early college students taking courses through the state college system. "If they're failing their classes or not being successful in their classes, we might not find out till the end of the term when their transcript is sent back to us, for credit evaluation." She added that for athletics and academic-eligibility monitoring the district cannot reliably act while students are unenrolled.

Farrell also noted equity concerns tied to access: some students lack reliable transportation, internet connectivity or guidance-counseling support. She singled out the federally funded Upward Bound partnership with Castleton University as a helpful program for low-income families, and criticized a forthcoming Agency of Education application process as "unnecessarily onerous" for students and counselors.

Lawmakers on the panel pressed Farrell on several operational points. Representatives asked whether dual-enrollment differs from early college (Farrell said dual-enrollment generally keeps students enrolled in the high school and often occurs on campus or online), how transportation is handled (currently by families when classes are off campus), and whether the district has seen staff reductions related to early college (Farrell said staffing cuts were driven by long-term enrollment declines and budgeting pressures; the district has gone from roughly 1,600 students 14 years ago to about 1,250 today).

Farrell provided additional figures: of the 28 seniors attending early college this year, 12 had already used their dual-enrollment credits; the district currently has eight students taking dual-enrollment courses; and a 5% cap in the funding formula limits the immediate funding loss the district faces when students leave campus for early college, so the district estimates it lost funding equivalent to about 4.5 students rather than the full 28.

Representatives acknowledged the program's benefits for many students while raising concerns about uniformity across districts and the social and cultural effects of large numbers of students off campus during their junior and senior years. Several lawmakers asked whether districts should standardize how early college and dual-enrollment are administered and how high schools and colleges communicate about student progress.

Farrell recommended improving communication protocols between colleges and high schools, clarifying expectations for families about graduation requirements and transferability of credits, and addressing equity barriers such as transportation and internet access. She said the district supports early college as an opportunity but urged stronger systems to ensure students remain connected to their high school and receive timely academic support.

The hearing did not record any formal committee action, votes or policy changes; discussion focused on program impacts and possible procedural fixes that would require coordination among districts, the Agency of Education and the state colleges.