On March 5, 2025
State News

VTSU sees record enrollment in early college program

Courtesy VTSU - Woodruff Hall welcomes students to the Castleton’s campus.

Since 2013, thousands of high school seniors have earned college credits via Vermont’s Early College Program, part of the Flexible Pathways Initiative within the state Agency of Education. The Early College Program makes it possible for high school seniors to earn college credit tuition-free at the same time they complete their final year of high school and earn their high school diploma. A record 377 high school seniors from every county in Vermont enrolled in Early College Programs at VSCS institutions, Community College of Vermont (CCV) and Vermont State University (VTSU), in Fall 2024, according to a recent VTSU news release.

“This marks the largest number of students participating in the Early College Program to date,” noted Beth Mauch, chancellor of the VSCS. “It’s really incredible that these students will graduate from high school this spring with a year of college already completed and with the tuition cost of that year covered by the state’s Flexible Pathways Initiative. Affordability is top-of-mind for many Vermont families and is a key strategic priority across the Vermont State Colleges System. Everyone benefits when we lower the overall cost of a college degree and open new and exciting opportunities for our students.”

Faith Holbrook of Essex was able to graduate from CCV with her associates degree one year after graduating from high school. In addition completing her year of Early College, Faith enrolled in Vermont’s Free Degree Promise program, a J.Warren & Lois McClure Foundation and CCV partnership that provides Early College Program participants in all Vermont high school classes of 2023-2026 with a second year at CCV tuition-and-fee-free, a stipend for books, transportation and other expenses, and enhanced advising support. “I got to finish my associate degree at no cost. It is a gift that has changed my adult life,” she said.

Of last year’s Early College Program participants at VSCS institutions, 81% went on to enroll in a second year of postsecondary education, and 41% more first-generation students continued their education after Early College in the 2023-2024 cohort as compared to the 2022-2023 cohort.

Chancellor Mauch added, “the continuation rates for Early College program participants after high school far exceed Vermont’s statewide continuation rates. It’s a means-tested approach to addressing the attainment gap. A post-secondary degree or credential is increasingly important to securing a good-paying job and ultimately that economic advancement and ability to contribute meaningfully to their community is what we want for all of our graduates.”

Malia Findley, who grew up in Springfield, Vermont, shared, “I knew I wanted to get into the Dental Hygiene program at VTSU, so enrolling in the Early College program really helped me prepare. I did my Early College year at the Randolph campus while living at home, then went to Williston for the Dental Hygiene program after I got my high school diploma.”

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Two members, including chair, resign from the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont

June 25, 2025
By Corey McDonald/VTDigger Two members of the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont, including the commission’s chair, announced last week they would be resigning, saying they no longer believed their efforts would make any impact. Meagan Roy, the chair of the commission, and Nicole Mace, the former representative of the Vermont School Boards…

Vt plastic bag use dropped 91% following ban, researchers find

June 25, 2025
In the midst of 2020 Covid measures, another change took place in Vermont: A law went into effect banning businesses from offering plastic bags to customers, with paper bags only available for a fee. A 2023 analysis of a survey of hundreds of Vermonters found the law appeared to have worked. Plastic bag use in…

A Roadmap

June 25, 2025
The Vermont Legislature adjourned Monday evening, June 16, following the passage of H.454, the education reform plan. I call it a roadmap as the legislation lays out a list of changes that will take place over the next few years. And as various studies and reports come back in, there will also likely be adjustments,…

Vermont to get over $21 million in nationwide settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers

June 25, 2025
Attorney General Charity Clark announced June 16 that all 55 attorneys general, representing all eligible states and U.S. territories, have agreed to sign on to a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family. This settlement was reached after the previous settlement was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. It resolves…