High school students interested in the Early College Alliance at Eastern Michigan University need to get their applications turned in this week. The deadline for dropping off applications is Wednesday, Jan.16. The deadline for mailed applications is Jan. 18.
The ECA program is designed to immerse high school-aged students from nearly every Washtenaw County school district into a post-secondary learning environment located on the campus of EMU.
Students can earn college credits while still in high school, and it gives them a chance to enroll in college-level courses. They can earn up to 60 college credits.
Students listen to a teacher during classes at the Early College Alliance, located on the campus of Eastern Michigan University.
Photo courtesy of EMU
The program is aimed at students looking for something beyond the typical high school experience, something more rigorous, said David Dugger, director of the Early College Alliance Program and of educational options for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District.
"The underlying philosophy is to prepare students to be successful college students," said Dugger. "Our goal is to create self-sustaining learners."
The ECA Program gets 95 percent per student of what the school district gets as part of each district's foundation allowance.
Students in the program can still participate in sports and other activities in their home school district while enrolled in the program. The ECA program does not offer transportation or lunch.
ECA accepts 140 students per year and has a total of 425 students. Dugger said the program is at capacity, and there are no plans to expand it. It has existed since 2007.
Each school district that participates in ECA has an allocation of slots for students based on the size of the school district. The Saline and Dexter school districts do not participate in ECA, but students in those districts can enroll through schools of choice.