By Heather Bremner
Gilroy
– When Dena Kehler began her college search, she quickly found
herself staring at a tuition price tag of $27,000 – and that was
the best deal.
By Heather Bremner
Gilroy – When Dena Kehler began her college search, she quickly found herself staring at a tuition price tag of $27,000 – and that was the best deal.
The Morgan Hill resident, who decided to go back to school after earning an associate’s degree more than a decade ago, wasn’t the least bit interested in taking on such an enormous debt. So when Kehler heard about Gavilan College’s new program that allows students to earn a bachelor’s for less than $4,000 without leaving our sunny state, she knew she’d hit the jackpot.
The 43-year-old applied, was accepted in March and is now only 10 classes away from a diploma.
“It’s a great program,” said Kehler, who was one of the first local students admitted. “I’d recommend it to anyone that doesn’t have time to go back to school.”
To bring the unique opportunity to the South Valley, Gavilan College joined forces with Bloomington-based Indiana University. Ten other California community colleges, including Santa Rosa Junior and San Francisco City colleges, also signed up for the program.
Although students may submit applications to IU before earning an associate’s, Gavilan officials recommend that students earn the two-year community college degree in advance. After earning 60 units from a community college, students are expected to complete an additional 30 semester units at Gavilan College to fulfill junior year requirements.
The final year of upper division courses are taken via distance education through IU.
In the end, students will have an IU diploma to hang on the wall, despite having never braved a blustery Midwest winter.
“It makes it possible for people to complete a bachelor’s degree without having to commute or to move,” Gavilan Spokeswoman Jan Bernstein Chargin said.
Since the program went into effect this fall, “there has been tremendous interest,” she said. Individuals have been picking up applications at the college and requesting information. School started at the Gilroy college on Tuesday.
Students, who pay Indiana in-state tuition while completing the distance education program, will earn a bachelor of general studies from the Big 10 university. And at IU, those fees total about $138 per unit.
The degree covers a variety of disciplines including arts and humanities, social and behavioral sciences, math, and natural sciences.
Students may complete the distance education portion via Internet or through correspondence. Kehler, who selected the latter option because she’s more of a “paper person,” already has 90 units under her belt.
She earned her associate’s degree at Gavilan in the early 1990s and after spending five years working in the college’s financial aid office, decided to go back to school and eventually pursue a career in human resources.
And now that IU has opened its door to her she won’t spend the next 30 years drowning in debt.
“I’m done,” she said. “I don’t have a bill.”
Heather Bremner covers education for the Dispatch. Reach her at
hb******@gi************.com
or 847-7097.
