On the EvCC website there
is a page titled “Welcome to the Running Start Information and Resources.” The
information on that page is factual but abrupt.
It is good information
but, if I were still a sophomore in high school trying to figure out what to do
with the rest of my life (or at least the next few years), it would scare me
away.
I, on the other hand, am
not scary. I am a student in my sixth and final quarter at EvCC and a high
school senior.
In a few short months I
will receive my high school diploma and an associates degree before I head off
for what I consider my real first stint in college at a university.
I offer up my advice, as a
person who sat and considered what to do with my education two years ago and
who has now been through five and a half quarters of community college as a
high school student, and the opinions of other students on the ups and downs of
Running Start.
A major perk of Running
start is that if you plan it out correctly you can essentially jump two years
ahead in your education.
This is great financially.
Under the current program students are not responsible to pay tuition for up to
15 basic credits, which is considered a full course load.
Students are still
responsible for books and regular campus fees.
The regular tuition cost
for 15 credits this year at EvCC is $1,171.90.
The College Board reported
that the average college budget at a public university for the 2011-2012 school
year is $21,447.
Although Running Start
doesn’t make college entirely free it can feel like it is. Brenna Tait, a
Running Start student at EvCC in her junior year of high school said “I mean,
free college … you can’t do better than that.”