News and Information
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Olivia Figueroa ofigueroa@elon.edu 516-784-7703
November, 10, 2017
High School Dropouts Get a Second Chance at a College Degree in Mountaintop, Va.
Olympia University will begin a new program to give high school dropouts the opportunity to complete their high school degree and finish four semesters of college work within six years.
The four-county area of Mountaintop, Va. has a high school dropout rate of 32 percent, which is higher than the nationwide and Virginia average. Only 18 percent finish college. But not for long. Beginning in September 2018, Olympia will begin a program to help high school dropouts earn their degree by enrolling them in the classes they need to graduate and then focusing on a path towards a college career.
The program intends to be flexible around students’ schedules, offering night classes in high school subjects such as english, american history, mathematics and general science. It also offers introductory college courses to students who have completed their high school requirement. The program offers guidance to students, something that only some private schools can offer through their well trained and highly paid advisory staff. Initial plans are to admit 300
students into the program. That’s 300 lives changed and 300 more people on the path to college. With education comes the first step to improving the standard of living in a community.
“We believe a university has an obligation to its wider community and not just to those who teach, work or study on campus. We are members of that community. In this part of our state, we have an acute problem that can be addressed by our reaching out to those who need help. We believe that within 10 years, this program can become a national model for other programs in economically depressed areas” said Olympia’s president, Dr. Foster L. Fogbottom.
The average individual income in Mountaintop, Va. is $30,000 per year, well below the national average of $48,000 and the Virginia average of $44,000. But after the launch of this program, that average can hopefully increase. Olympia has also considered the issue of paying for college, which many kids in Mountaintop face. Few high school dropouts can afford to pay $28,000 per year for tuition plus room and board or just tuition alone, $18,000. Olympia will offer students financial aid as well as low-interest loans and help them obtain federal and / or state loans to supplement what Olympia cannot lend them. Students would have to provide for their own room and board, but the assumption is that the majority of such students would be living within the four-county area and thus would need to pay for room and board.
Hopefully this program will not only affect students’ lives but also the community at hand. Olympia’s goal is to create an educated, more profitable community, allowing the generations to come to not only grow up but succeed.