Students tell Vermont committee Early College and Free Degree Promise expand access, ease cost barriers

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Students and staff from the Community College of Vermont told the House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development on Feb. 20 that the Early College program and the Free Degree Promise are helping high-school students begin college coursework earlier, reduce costs and explore career paths.

Katie Mobley, dean of enrollment and community relations at CCV, told the committee that CCV serves about 240 Early College students this year, with participants from nearly every county and 60 of Vermont's 72 high schools. "Forty-seven percent of our students currently identify as low income," she said, and the program reports an average GPA of about 3.2 for participating students.

Mobley said the Early College initiative—part of the state's flexible pathways framework and connected for many students to the McClure Foundation's Free Degree Promise—has two main goals: increase…