Submitted by the Ohio Association of Community Colleges.
To help provide Ohio’s students some things in short supply right now—certainty and safety—Ohio’s community colleges have come together to launch a new effort to help first-year college students put aside questions about where and how they’ll go to college this coming fall by answering the question right now—at home and online.
Known as Year 1 at Home the new effort by Ohio’s public two-year colleges is aimed at reminding students and their families of community colleges’ long-time expertise in online instruction, their low tuition and the fact that first-year general education requirements are almost universally the same at all institutions and the credits transfer easily.
“Who knows what the higher education landscape will look like this fall? And who knows if, after saving for years and then paying large sums for tuition in a residential setting, conditions may force students to wind-up at home again learning online anyway,” Jack Hershey, President and CEO of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges, said. “During these challenging times, many students need assurances about the availability and affordability of their college classes. Year 1 at Home wipes away all of these unnecessary stress points, replaces them with certainty and lets students move forward focused on learning and their futures.”
According to Hershey, Ohio is fortunate to have a number of world-class public and private universities right here in our state, and community colleges are proud to have long-standing working partnerships with all of them that can make this idea possible.
Central to the success of the campaign is the fact that, over the years, Ohio’s leaders have required Ohio’s colleges, both two- and four-year, to easily accept each other’s credits, especially when transferring from two-year to four-year institutions.
This not only helps keep costs down, but it also gives students more options for where and how they pursue their educations, something that is essential when juggling other obligations like career and family.
And, if for some reasons, the current public health environment suddenly improves, making it possible for residential campuses to open safety with no risk of closing or switching to online instruction again, students can simply shift gears and move ahead with four-year, residential plans.
“Ohio’s community colleges are built for the ease, convenience and support of students. We know how to work around students’ needs and the biggest need they have right now is certainty, and that’s something we can supply,” Jim Doyle, chairman of the OACC and a member of the Clark State Community College Board of Trustees, said.
Doyle added, “We are in 23 places across Ohio, nearby to every community, and we’re wired to serve. We’re glad to have a chance to support students and their families right now with Year 1 at Home and we anticipate it will be a welcome resource—and source of relief.”