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Bucks County grant will expand dual‑enrollment access for Pennridge students; district will offer reduced tuition credits this year
Summary
Bucks County Community College received a $1 million Dual Credit Innovation Grant and has partnered with Pennridge to offer tuition‑reduced dual‑enrollment credits. Penridge will accept a district allocation that staff say includes three course credits; counselors are informing students and applications/placement requirements apply.
Jennifer Bloom introduced a Bucks County Community College representative and said the college secured grant funding that will benefit Pennridge students.
Yolanda Yabardi, speaking for Bucks County Community College, described the Dual Credit Innovation Grant as a Pennsylvania Department of Education award intended to expand dual‑enrollment access. Yabardi said the grant is for $1,000,000 over two years and that Bucks County designed the program to increase in‑high‑school college coursework taught either by college faculty or by qualified high‑school teachers. She said Bucks and partnering districts negotiated course lists so high‑school courses can count toward both graduation requirements and college credit.
Yabardi said the college and districts worked to translate the grant into tuition‑free seats for participating schools; she told the committee Penridge’s allocation is three courses at three credits each and that Bucks had budgeted slots for 20 students per course in the district allocation. Hilary Schplierki, the high‑school principal, said the district will apply the award by offering one free credit per course for students who enroll in dual‑enrollment classes, which reduces the effective tuition for those courses. Schplierki estimated the normal cost of a Bucks credit at about $170 plus fees (staff used approximate figures), explained a typical three‑credit course runs about $510, and said a discount and the free credit tied to the grant will reduce a course cost to roughly $260 including fees in the near term.
Staff said students still must complete Bucks County’s application and meet any placement requirements for specific courses. Counselors are communicating with students already enrolled in dual‑enrollment classes; staff said the grant money will be spent beginning this academic year and that the program will continue into the second grant year.
