Program expands access to Virginia Western Community College - www.roanoke.com

Virginia Western Community College's tuition-assistance program is expanding, making higher education more affordable for more students in the Roanoke Valley.

For the first time, the school's Community College Access Plan will be open to high school graduates from its single largest source of students ? Roanoke County ? as well as those from Botetourt and Craig counties.

And Virginia Western Community College President Robert Sandel has a message for aspiring students: "No excuses. The money is not a barrier."

The program, known as CCAP, is a public-private partnership providing free tuition to current high school students who meet certain requirements. For the first time since its inception five years ago it will be available to students in all localities the community college serves.

Sandel wants local students, all local students, to know if they stay in high school they can make it to the next step: higher education.

"Our region is talking. We're not leaving anyone out," he said. "Everyone gets the same opportunity."

Pilot programs in the three localities will begin in the 2013-14 school year. Officials estimate the expansion will serve about 125 students in Roanoke County, 25 students in Botetourt County and 15 students in Craig County.

CCAP started in Salem with a pilot in 2008 with 64 students and later expanded with pilot programs in Roanoke in 2009 and Franklin County in 2011. Currently, the program has 176 students.

Sandel said he's pleasantly surprised the program was able to grow during the past five years even in such difficult economic times. He said it has been a true community partnership with government and industry.

The Virginia Western Educational Foundation funds CCAP through support from governments, businesses, foundations and individuals. The foundation and localities share the cost for the program.

For instance in Roanoke County, the foundation and the county government will fund the program; the same is true of Craig County; and in Botetourt the foundation and the Botetourt Education Foundation will partner. The cost in Roanoke, Botetourt and Craig counties is $250,000, $50,000 and $14,000 respectively.

Roanoke County Schools Superintendent Lorraine Lange said she's grateful for the support from Virginia Western and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, which provided the funding.

"I think a lot of parents who thought their children could never go to college" can see now that they might be able to, she said.

Lange said officials think the program will be successful and expect to expand it as the economy improves.

"Our entire school system is changing. We have a lot of people, especially during the recession, that would not necessarily have enough money for a four-year college," she said.

Sandel said students who attend the college can get the specialized education they need to enter the work force or the education they need to enter a four-year college.

"Money shouldn't be a barrier for any young person to go to college in the Roanoke Valley," he said.

Sandel said students whose families fall within the top 25percent of income usually don't have difficulty affording college, and students whose families fall in the bottom 25percent typically receive aid. But those in the middle, who can't afford college and don't qualify for aid, have trouble, he said.

Said Angela Falconetti, Virginia Western's institutional advancement vice president: "We pick up tuition where financial aid does not."

Falconetti said officials take pride in being able to serve the entire region.

"It's a momentous time," she said.

Source: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/319082

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