SAND SPRINGS – When eighth grader Eastyn Eardley was called out of golf practice on Monday afternoon for a meeting, she didn’t expect to leave the room with an offer of college admission .
Eardley and nine other Clyde Boyd Middle School students were notified Monday afternoon that they had been accepted into Sand Springs Public Schools’ inaugural cohort for Tulsa Community College’s EDGE: Earn a Degree Graduate Early program.
Students are selected as eighth graders to participate and complete a college preparatory program as ninth graders before officially entering EDGE in 10th grade.
During the program, students take college courses taught by TCC faculty. Classes are introduced gradually, with three for sophomores, then eight for juniors and nine for seniors.
Tuition, books, fees and transport costs are all covered by TCC and partner schools.
Unlike concurrent enrollment, in which a student takes only a handful of college courses as a junior or senior, EDGE participants can take enough college courses over three years to complete an associate’s degree.
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“I have tears in my eyes thinking about this wonderful opportunity you have to leave high school already with an associate’s degree and already on your way to an incredible career and an incredible life,” Nancy Ogle said. , Principal of Clyde Boyd Middle School. students during Monday’s announcement.
“We are so proud of you and we are so excited.”
Union High School will graduate with its second EDGE degree in May.
The inaugural cohorts of Tulsa’s Memorial and McLain High Schools began this year with 15 students each, while the first batch of freshmen at KIPP Tulsa University Prep High School will begin the program’s college preparatory program in August.
Of the 10 students selected for Sand Springs’ first cohort, three are first-generation students and eight are eligible for Oklahoma’s Promise, a scholarship program available to students from families with an annual income of $60,000 or less.
For Eardley, who hopes to eventually attend law school, the opportunity to earn her associate’s degree while still in high school made golfing worthwhile.
“I’m thrilled to be able to do two years (of college) for free and I don’t have to pay anything,” she said.
