Grapevine - Colleyville - Southlake | September 2022

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to help students, including the Veteran Resource Center, nancial aid and Prior Learn- ing Assessments. Prior Learn- ing Assessments, also known as PLAs, allow students to pay $25 to try and test out of required courses. For the 2020-21 academic year, $107.9 million of nan- cial aid was disbursed to students, according to TCC’s student nancial aid services. Jepsen also pointed out the Student Emergency Assis- tance Fund, which gives students up to $500 to cover unanticipated needs, such as car repairs, emergency med- ical care and safety-related needs, as well as the Stay the Course fund, which oers up to $1,500 to help low-income students succeed in college. “There’s a lot of resources here on our campuses that will help students out,” Jepsen said. Early college high schools Collegiate high schools are another feature with Tarrant County College. The schools dier from dual-credit pro- grams as they begin in ninth or 10th grade, rather than tra- ditional programs that begin later in high school. The early college high schools give students the opportunity to earn 60 col- lege credits along with a high school diploma. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD’s Collegiate Academy, also known as CA, is located at TCC Northeast. Students within GCISD have the oppor- tunity to earn college credit without paying for classes or textbooks. CA’s College Transition Specialist Yvonne Aguirre works with students as they move from the academy to a four-year university. She said she spends most of her time with rst-generation students looking to attend college. Most students may be satised with an associate degree, but Aguirre said she pushes them to pursue a

GRAPEVINECOLLEYVILLE ISD COLLEGIATE ACADEMY

*Fall 2022 enrollment

Opened: 2014

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment: 376*

“AT COLLEGIATE ACADEMY THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED.” YVONNE AGUIRRE, COLLEGE TRANSITION SPECIALIST

The Tarrant County College Northeast Campus in Hurst welcomed students back to classes Aug. 22. (Hannah Johnson/Community Impact Newspaper)

CAMPUS LOCATIONS

Texas in Denton, which is a four-year university, in-state undergraduate students will pay about $230 per credit hour. Average tuition and fees for scal year 2020-21 were $11,994, according to the 2021 Texas Public Higher Education Almanac. Lower costs for higher education degrees are part of a statewide initiative. The Texas Higher Educa- tion Coordinating Board, the state’s agency for higher education, has a strategic plan called Building A Tal- ent Strong Texas, which is focused on making it easier for students to earn college degrees. “We want to make sure that students are better o,” said Harrison Keller, the coordi- nating board’s commissioner. “We want 95% of our stu- dents [to be] able to complete their degree either having no student debt at all or [having] debt that is manageable.” Another part of the initia- tive is increasing employ- ment opportunities through postsecondary credits, such as degrees, certicates or other credentials. Along with

associate degrees, TCC oers a number of certications students can earn along the way in industries ranging from heating, air condition- ing and refrigeration to oph- thalmic technology. TCC’s large footprint with ve campuses and the online campus oers more opportu- nities for student access. Variety of programs TCC oers over 100 pro- grams that are broken down into pathways: arts and humanities; business and industry; health science; human and public service; and science, technology, engineering and math. Northwest campus Stu- dent Body President Samuel Jepsen said the variety of courses oered at TCC is a big draw for students. “We have aviation courses that you can go into [and] criminal justice. We have dance, horticulture and areas of logistics that you can major in,” Jepsen said. “It’s really neat.” Along with courses oered, Jepsen said several nan- cial resources are available

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1 Connect Campus: 15,542 2 Northeast Campus: 9,399 3 Northwest Campus: 6,720 ENROLLMENT NUMBERS

4 South Campus: 6,582 5 Southeast Campus: 7,881 6 Trinity River Campus: 5,187

SOURCE: TARRANT COUNTY COLLEGE DISTRICT OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCHCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER TOTAL UNDUPLICATED: 41,829 *CAMPUS ENROLLMENT NUMBERS FROM SPRING 2022 REPRESENT DUPLICATED HEADCOUNT AMONG CAMPUSES, MEANING STUDENTS ENROLLED IN COURSES AT MULTIPLE CAMPUSES ARE COUNTED AT EACH CAMPUS. TOTAL DUPLICATED: 51,311*

41,000 students in the spring 2022 semester, according to TCC’s Oce of Institutional Research. Students living in Tarrant County can expect to pay $1,728 for tuition and fees for 27 credit hours, according to TCC’s business services oce. For students outside

the county, the average cost is $3,402. Tuition is $64 per semester hour for a resident of Tar- rant County and $126 for a resident of any other Texas county. Out-of-state tuition is $305 per credit hour. At the University of North

COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM