TIFFIN, Ohio — Heidelberg University wants to expand opportunities for students living in the more rural areas northwest Ohio.
For years, Heidelberg has partnered with Terra State Community College to offer local students the College Credit Plus program.
It allows high school students to earn credits at Heidelberg while taking post-secondary classes in high school, even allowing them to graduate high school with an associate's degree.
But officials have found that students in more rural school districts don't have as much access to all of those post-secondary courses.
"Right now, a lot of students take a lot of random classes in CCP, and then they're left with a lot of credit, but not saving a year or so," Tony Bourne, vice president for Enrollment Management and Marketing, said. "And that is where you really get the time and money savings."
This is why Heidelberg applied for and was awarded a $1.2 million federal Rural Post-Secondary and Economic development (RPED) grant.
Now Heidelberg aims to expand its reach for the CCP program and offer more post-secondary classes in more rural school districts.
"If we can partner with not only the community colleges, but also with some of these high schools to provide them with sort of a 'menu,' or 'buffet' of options and help get them on the path towards completing college credits, completing college credits that are going to serve them and help reduce the amount of time for them to complete their degrees," Courtney Demayo Pugno, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs, said.
"Really creating that connection early so that they know this is where they can end up, and to know exactly what the path to a job looks like," Bourne said.
The staff at Heidelberg will be spending the summer expanding their current CCP program, while also adding in those new ones that are specifically geared toward rural high school students.