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Pupils Offered 2 Years' Tuition: Grade-Schoolers Who Follow Program Rules Can Eventually Attend Delta College for Free.

Posted on: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Dan Nguyen, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Apr. 6--San Joaquin Delta College has two years of free tuition waiting for next year's fifth-graders.

The Galt Joint Union Elementary and River Delta Unified school districts agreed last month to participate in the Delta College Foundation's Passport to College program, which promises a two-year Delta College scholarship to any fifth-grader next year who signs up for the program and graduates from the districts.

It may be eight years before these children take their first college class, but that's the point, said Diana Slawson, executive director of the Delta College Foundation. By making the promise and commitment now, the foundation's program hopes to raise student academic goals at an early age.

"We're not doing nearly enough to ensure the success of our children and their college-going rate," said Slawson to the Galt Elementary school board at its March 22 meeting.

The two districts are at the northern edge of the Stockton-based college's service area, though only D.H. White and Isleton Elementary schools from River Delta Unified are included in the region.

"In my 36 years, I've never seen a deal like this," said Superintendent Jeffery Jennings to the Galt Elementary board. "This is a super deal. A guaranteed super deal."

River Delta Superintendent Alan Newell, in a separate interview, also was enthusiastic about the program.

"I think that anything that provides students with an incentive to go to college is something we should support," he said. "To me, this is a win-win."

Slawson said the program originated from an idea Della Condon, Delta College's assistant superintendent, brought from Riverside Community College in Riverside. Riverside launched its Passport program a decade ago, and the first students entered the community college in 2004.

Slawson said the aim of the program is to help every student into college.

"We don't care if they go to Delta or not," she said. "We just care that they go to college."

Parents who enroll their children into the program have to provide Delta College with their children's student identification numbers (issued by the state) and are required to visit the college campus annually for informational sessions.

Slawson said the identification numbers allow the college to keep track of students if they move throughout the district, but also allows it to track their attendance and academic performance. The program, Slawson said, would not only provide scholarships, but educational assistance to students so that they will be ready for college when the time comes.

The foundation hopes to raise $1.5 million in donations, half of which would pay for the tuitions and half of which would pay for administering the program. Fee waivers and grants also would cover the costs of tuition.

Slawson said the goal of the program is to see as many as 8,000 of the region's current fourth-graders eventually enrolled in Delta College.

Galt Superintendent Jennings said the cost and overhead for the elementary school district would be low, though the district has been asked to provide buses for the annual campus visits. Jennings said teachers and individual schools may take it upon themselves to further emphasize and teach the value of college education to their students.

"I think in that regard, for an elementary district, it's a wonderful program to initiate," he said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Sacramento Bee

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