Story by Maggie Harris
GREAT BEND — The Barton Community College Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to approve a new tuition and fees rate of $50 per credit hour for select high school audiences. Starting with the Summer 2023 semester, high school students enrolling in face-to-face classes on the Barton County campus, in person at their partnered high school, or through a Partnered Online partnership will qualify for the new rate.
Previously, high school students paid the same tuition rate as post-secondary students. This new $50 tuition rate is a significant step toward providing more accessible courses for high school students across the state. In addition to this rate change, Barton recently added a scholarship for Barton Online classes for Kansas high school students to bring the cost down to $75 per credit hour.
Director of Early College Opportunities Karly Little said the new rate and online scholarship will allow more students to get ahead and take advantage of Barton’s early college opportunities including general education courses. High school students that qualify for the new rate may be able to take the courses as dual credit, but she said students should check with their high school counselor to see whether their school is an early college partner and if the class would count on their high school transcript or impact their class schedules.
“With the new tuition rate for high school students, taking classes on the Barton County campus or at our partnered schools, either in person or via Partnered Online, we hope to give more students access to coursework at a price they can afford,” she said.
Little said in addition to the new credit hour rate and scholarship for online classes, some classes utilize low-cost (under $50) or no-cost textbooks, helping students in these classes save even more money. A state-approved list of career technical education (CTE) courses is still being offered at no tuition charged for Kansas high school students through a state program called Excel in CTE. Students may also qualify to use the Barton Online $75 per credit hour scholarship to complete career technical classes not included on the fully funded list to make greater progress toward their college and career plans.
“Students can take individual classes or work toward earning an associate degree or certificate,” she said. “They can even mix and match with scholarship or reduced rate general education courses, career technical courses, and tuition-free Excel in CTE courses to reduce their overall cost.”
For more information, visit highschool.bartonccc.edu.