Charter Oak State College Offering Tuition Incentive Program For State’s Community College Graduates

Charter Oak State College has a new agreement with the state’s 12 community colleges that will allow students to take four-year degree courses at the same price they were paying at the two-year institutions.

At current tuition rates, the tuition freeze program could save students nearly $9,000 on their bachelor’s degree.

Charter Oak, the state’s online-only public college based at the Central Connecticut State University campus in New Britain, offers 10 bachelor’s degree and two associate’s degree programs. Its most recent session had an enrollment of about 1,500.

Charter Oak State College President Ed Klonoski said one of the community colleges got a similar offer from an out-of-state college. Charter Oak decided to match the program to offer another flexible, competitive option for state residents to earn their degrees without leaving Connecticut.

“There are students who need a bachelor’s degree but it’s to their advantage to stay residents in their communities,” Klonoski said. “What we need to do as a system is serve Connecticut’s educational needs with programs inside Connecticut.”

He said Charter Oak is hoping to draw at least 10 students from each of the community colleges with the new program.

To qualify, students must have finished an associate’s program at one of the community colleges, have a GPA of 2.3 or higher and begin courses at Charter Oak within six months of their community college graduation. They must take a minimum of six credits — typically two courses — a semester to qualify.

Students can still apply for federal Pell grants to pay for tuition, books and other materials. At the maximum Pell award rate, their degree would be nearly free under the tuition freeze incentive.

Klonoski said the program helps meet the workforce development goals of the state Board of Regents for Higher Education by keeping people in the state. Students will be more likely to look for work locally after they graduate, he said.

“We are trying to make sure students get to the finish line,” Klonoski said. “There’s not a lot of [profit] margin for me with this incentive, but the upside for Connecticut is that they get to their bachelor’s at an institution in Connecticut. If you look at the numbers, more go out of state to finish school than stay.”

At Middlesex Community College in Middletown, the tuition freeze agreement was finalized just days before this year’s graduation, so it isn’t clear how many students might take advantage of the offer.

Middlesex Dean of Students Adrienne Maslin, said keeping tuition at the community college level could be what allows a student to go on to a four-year degree.

“The financial aspect of it is very important,” Maslin said. “Although the tuition at the community colleges is really quite a bargain, it still can be very difficult for our students to pay for. A lot of our students deal with housing issues, with hunger issues and with transportation issues.”

Middlesex was the second community college to sign the agreement with Charter Oak, just after Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted did.

“It’s a very attractive situation,” Maslin said. “All of us are really pleased at Charter Oak’s offer. It’s really going to help our students.”

Charter Oak said its average student age is 39, and 80 percent are Connecticut residents.

The institution is primarily serving students outside of the traditional 18-24 college-age population. Many of the students at community colleges and Charter Oak are seeking new careers or career advancement, Klonoski said.

Chelsea Clow, a recent Naugatuck Valley Community College graduate, said she’s in the process of enrolling at Charter Oak to continue her education. She plans to enroll under the tuition freeze program, she said.

“I’m a nontraditional student, I went back to school when I was 26 to be a physical therapy assistant,” Clow said. “It took me a little bit longer because I had to take some of the prerequisite courses.”

Clow, 31, was a professional ballet dancer for nine years before going to Naugatuck. She said she looked at the four regional state universities and at out-of-state options to continue her education before an adviser told her about the new Charter Oak program.

She just started a full-time job as a physical therapy assistant at Masonicare in Wallingford, just a two-mile commute from her home. She will enroll in Charter Oak’s health care administration bachelor’s program to continue developing in the health care field, she said.

“I have the potential to make my money go a lot further in the classes while I’m working full time,” Clow said. “The fact that I can get home so quickly and [take courses online] means my mind will be at work when I’m at work and on school when I’m at home.”

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