On October 20, 2022 the City of Tuscaloosa, Shelton State Community College (SSCC), and Tuscaloosa City Schools (TCS) announced a dual enrollment scholarship match aimed at helping more students afford higher education.
TCS students who use their Elevate-funded nine free hours of dual enrollment at SSCC are now eligible for nine additional fully-funded hours after graduation.
“The Elevate dual enrollment scholarship has been vital to allowing our students to gain college credit for free while still in high school, helping them to make progress toward their post-graduation goals,” said Tuscaloosa City Schools Superintendent Mike Daria. “This new matching program with Shelton State is taking that even further, making college more accessible for so many TCS students.”
Nearly 200 TCS students currently receiving dual enrollment scholarships at SSCC will receive this matching scholarship upon graduation, saving families over $1400 per student.
“We’re proud to join this effort to make post-secondary education in Tuscaloosa more affordable,” Shelton State President Chris Cox said. “These students will one day be part of West Alabama’s workforce, and we want them to be as prepared as possible.”
The Elevate Dual Enrollment scholarship program, announced in January 2020, allowed TCS high school seniors to take six fully-funded college credit hours at the University of Alabama, Shelton State Community College, or Stillman College. Since then, the program has expanded so that 10th through 12th grade students can take up to nine fully-funded credit hours.
“When we passed Elevate Tuscaloosa, one of the pledges we made to this community was to help our young people get a head start on their college- or career-readiness, without their family having to sacrifice other pieces of their life,” Mayor Walt Maddox said. “Thanks to the leadership of the Tuscaloosa City Schools and Shelton State, this matching nine hours will make an impact on our community that will be felt generations from now.”
Learn more about the dual enrollment scholarship program here.