Early College High School Program is a collection of words familiar to the majority of students at TAMIU. After all, the customary high school uniform-polo shirts in a student’s school’s colors and either khaki or navy blue pants-can be seen on a wide variety of students roaming the campus. These students are on university grounds until late afternoon, yet school buses enter and exit the campus throughout the day. The passengers are a collection of high school students participating in the House Bill (HB) program; the chance to take part in dual enrollment for classes such as English 1301 and History 1301.
Accessible through the students’ high school’s counselor, the HB program offers students the opportunity to get academically ahead. To participate, students who are currently in their junior year take the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) exam, and should they pass, they are then enrolled into a college level course. Those students who partake in this program take a bus from their respective high school to the university, attend class, and then return to school to complete the rest of their day.
While not every experience in college is a positive one, this program enables students to understand how college classes are really like. Additionally, the program can perhaps alleviate common fears and misconceptions some may have.
“When I came here, I was actually expecting a big, old teacher that would just make us do work,” said Gloria Cortez, a junior at United High School.
When asked whether her experiences in the classroom and with her teacher had changed her original attitude toward college, Cortez responded with enthusiasm.
“My teacher changed my perspective on how college is. It’s not really that hard as long as you pay attention and set your mind to it.”
Ricky Beltran, also a junior at United High School, chimed in.
“I had Dr. Blackwell for History, and while my English teacher is way different, both helped me out,” he said.
Both Cortez and Beltran shared their thoughts about whether the HB program was worth their time
“I think it is useful because you get an early outlook of how college is. It (the program) prepares you for when you’re really in college,” Cortez said.
Stating that he was making plans to study his basics here at TAMIU and apply elsewhere afterwards, Beltran agreed with her.
However, it is to be expected that for almost everything positive, there will surely be a negative. Fortunately the negative in this case has nothing to do with the instructors or the classes.
“The only complaint I have is it (trips to and from school) cuts into our lunch time,” Cortez said.