High School Junior Receive College Degrees
05.15.09 | E M Johnson | EL PASOTimes
After 23 students receive their associate degrees Friday from El Paso Community College, they will head right back to class Monday morning to finish their junior year of high school.
The students are the first graduates of Mission Early College High School. A collaboration of the community college, the Socorro school district and the Texas High School Project, it enables high-school students to earn a two-year college degree by the time they graduate from high school.
These 23 students surpassed expectations. They completed their two-year college degrees with a year of high school still remaining.
Come fall, they will split their time between senior-year high-school work and junior-level university classes at the University of Texas at El Paso.
"It's been really crazy," said Angel Cepeda, 17, who will receive an associate of arts degree. "We had to work a lot to get to this point so we can say we're college graduates before we graduate high school. We worked ourselves to the bone. It's been pretty worth it."
Cepeda and his fast-track classmates will be among more than 1,400 EPCC graduates.
He and the other students at Mission Early College High School agreed to take on 60 credit hours of coursework at the college while enrolled in high-school classes. They skipped the extracurricular activities, such as sports and band, offered at other high schools.
"While it may not be for everybody, there are a lot of students who love the accelerated pathway," said
EPCC President Richard Rhodes. "You set the bar high enough and let them know what the expectations are, and these students rise to the challenge."
Mission Early College High School was the first such institution in El Paso three years ago, but the community college now has four early-college programs in high schools. These collaborations involve the Socorro, El Paso, Ysleta and Canutillo school districts.
Rhodes said a fifth campus could be on the way for outlying communities, including the Clint, San Elizario, Fabens, Tornillo and Fort Hancock districts.
At Mission Early College High School, the 93 remaining classmates of this year's graduates could earn two-year college degrees by next May.
"We shouldn't underestimate the potential of our students," said Armando Aguirre, principal of Mission Early College High School. "We're quickly finding out these students can handle this."
One of his students receiving her associate degree while still in high school is Ivette Lopez, 17. In addition to the jump-start on college, a big benefit of the program is saving money.
She and the others did not have to pay for their studies at EPCC.
"My parents haven't really noticed how much money they're saving, but I know it's a lot," said Lopez, the first in her family to go to college.
Of the 23 students graduating Friday, 21 are first-generation college students.
"I have the utmost respect in them and the confidence that these are future doctors and engineers, and they're going to be serving our communities well," Rhodes said. "It's just amazing what happens when you open the doors of opportunity to students and give them the assistance and the guidance and the support necessary to be successful."
UTEP is working with Mission Early College High School to accommodate the 23 students who want to tackle university coursework while completing their senior year of high school.
The students are not eligible for federal financial assistance to attend classes at the university because they have not yet received their high-school diplomas. UTEP, though, is working with several groups to find ways to help pay the students' costs, said Donna Ekal, associate provost in undergraduate studies.
She said all the students would probably enroll in at least 12 credit hours per semester at UTEP.
University administrators have no worries about the youthfulness of their new college juniors, she said.
"They're amazing," Ekal said.
But the incoming students are still a little nervous about fitting in with UTEP's older student population and finding their way around the 420-acre campus.
"The scary part is going to UTEP at the age of 17, because compared to Mission Del Paso (community college campus), it's humongous," said Lopez, who wants to become a pharmacist. "At the beginning here, the freshmen and sophomore people would look at you like you weren't good enough. I'm wondering if you have to prove yourself again there."
Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com; 546-6132.
Make plans
· What:"El Paso Community College spring commencement ceremony.
· When:"6 p.m. Friday.
· Where:"Don Haskins Center, 151 Glory Road.
· Details:"About 1,450 students will receive associate degrees and certificates of completion. The graduation speaker will be James Vásquez, executive director of the Region 19 Education Service Center, a state agency that serves El Paso-area schools.
College snapshot
· El Paso Community College has five campuses throughout the county and an enrollment of 24,700.
· More than 130 career programs are available at the college.
· The college dates to 1969 with the creation of a junior college district and elected board of trustees. Its first students enrolled in September 1971.
Source:"El Paso Community College