About one in five residents of rural Crook County in central Oregon hold a bachelor’s degree, which is below regional and state averages. Exposing students to a college and career experience before high school is important to help create a culture change that encourages students to continue their education and training.
In response, Oregon State University Extension Service’s Open Campus and Juntos Program, in partnership with the Central Oregon Community College Prineville Campus, make presentations to and create experiences for middle school students on various topics that support going to college or learning a trade.
These programs include tours of the campus and discussions involving degree programs, scholarships, how to prepare in high school to be successful in college – including taking classes in high school that earn college credit. The students get the opportunity to spend time in the college building and meet support staff. Fifty-four students, accompanied by four teachers, attended two sessions put on by OSU Open Campus and Juntos and the Central Oregon Community College Prineville campus in 2022.
After attending these sessions, students wrote letters that described how they were affected. Among the takeaways:
- They became aware that Prineville had its own college campus. For most it was their first visit.
- Explanations of different types of colleges helped them start thinking about what kind of school they want to attend.
- They were made aware of the ability to get college credit while still in high school.
- They discovered the value of getting an associate degree and transferring to a university and liked finding out the average salaries of different occupations.
- They enjoyed learning about career technical education programs at the college.
- They became more informed about degree partnership programs and dual enrollment in the community college and universities.
- They became aware of opportunities with the Oregon Promise Grant, which helps cover tuition costs at any Oregon community college for recent high school graduates and GED test graduates.