From Del. Mary-Dulany James:
Dear Friend,
One of the bills I am sponsoring, HB 1381, recently passed with a vote of 133-1 in the House of Delegates. This bill will help establish “2+2” buildings in Harford County. In keeping with Modern Democrats’ ideals of smarter more efficient government, these building are designed to give students with geographic limitations the ability to complete an Associate’s Degree in 2 years at a local community college and then proceed on to spending another 2 years in partnership with an accredited institution in order to attain their Bachelor’s Degree- all from the convenience of their local community. After all, why should students be put at a disadvantage based on where they live?
This is just one way that the “World is Coming to Cecil and Harford Counties”. With the help of local education leaders, the opportunity for many to achieve their goals in life without their geographic location hindering them is possible.
This bill will be hugely advantageous to the students of Harford County. Not only will students be able to attain their higher education goals, but it also expands the operations of local colleges and universities, specifically Harford Community College and Towson University. The strategic partnership between these two institutions will fundamentally change the way that students receive their educational needs in the county.
A recent story by the Baltimore Sun (found here) featured this bill, and I am proud to have sponsored this with Delegate Rudolph.
UPDATE:
This morning I let you all know about a bill I am sponsoring, HB 1381, which passed with a vote of 133-1 in the House of Delegates. This bill, establishing “2+2” buildings in the North East region of Maryland, is in keeping with the Modern Democrats’ ideals of smarter more efficient government. I’d like to clarify that the bill behooves not only Harford County but Cecil County as well. In fact, the entire North Eastern area of Maryland will gain a lot by this bill being adopted.
“2+2” buildings are designed to give students with geographic limitations the ability to complete an Associate’s Degree in 2 years at a local community college and then proceed on to spending another 2 years in partnership with an accredited institution in order to attain their Bachelor’s Degree- all from the convenience of their local community.
Once again, this is just one way that the “World is Coming to Cecil and Harford Counties”. With the help of local education leaders, the opportunity for many to achieve their goals in life without their geographic location hindering them is possible.
Very Truly Yours,
Mary-Dulany
I find the comment about the “World coming to Harford and Cecil county” a little demeaning.
I see your point but I took it to mean the world is coming here in terms of not having to leave the area to accomplish a four year degree. A covenience thing not a backwards rural county thing. I could be wrong.
UMBC, UDel, etc are too far to drive?
As well as UMUC (all online degree so no traveling) or UBalt, right across the street from the train station, which has the MARC Penn line and only 30 minutes away.
There are still some degrees with components that cannot be done entirely on the internet. Do you want a doctor who’s never seen an patient? I know that’s an extreme example, but you there you go.
And not all programs are offered at all colleges, or are not as strong, or they may have an undergraduate program, but no graduate program in certain fields, so the choice of college is sometimes more complicated than just finding one.
I’ve taken a lot of college classes, online, regular, and hybrid classes (hybrid classes generally meet once a week and then do a significant portion of the assignments and interactions online like a regular online class.)
I’ve found that for those who have the time, regular classes are best. If you work full time (or close to full time) hybrid classes are a good option since they only meet once a week. Most online classes I’ve taken just really seem to be lacking something even if there is significant participation on the class website and video conferencing. I know everyone learns differently, but I think you really miss out on a lot if you’re not face to face with your professor and classmates.
Hey Noble,
“There are still some degrees with components that cannot be done entirely on the internet. Do you want a doctor who’s never seen an patient? I know that’s an extreme example, but you there you go.” – Of course I don’t want a doctor to be able to get a degree completely online. I also would not want a doctor to be able to practice medicine with just a 4 year degree, which is what this topic is about, so your example of doctor isn’t really applicable.
“And not all programs are offered at all colleges, or are not as strong, or they may have an undergraduate program, but no graduate program in certain fields, so the choice of college is sometimes more complicated than just finding one.” – Again, this topic is simply about the 4 year degree, not a graduate program. And yes, the choice is more than simply finding a college, but that isn’t really relevant to the conversation of bringing a 4 year program to Harford and Cecil counties.
Anyways, have a nice day.
Point 1: Yes, as I stated it was an extreme example. But I think the point is still valid. There are several kinds of 4 year programs that are either not offered online, or not truly practical as a primary degree for an employer.
Point 2: I can’t argue about how narrowly you want to define the discussion. Of course the bill above is about 4 year programs, but any good advisor and/or smart student is going to be thinking about whether they need/should/might want to go to graduate school, and if the answer would be yes, then the choice of your 4 year program can be very important. If you complete a four year degree at a school, it is going to be a little more seamless and easier for you to get into that school’s graduate program in the same area of study. So more access to a variety of 4 year schools for Harford and Cecil County residents is important in terms of their long term goals.
Hey DW,
I too have taken classes in each of the formats. I have had good experiences and bad experiences in each format. For some subjects and some professors, I would much prefer to have an online course that I could do in my own time. For others, I think I would prefer in class, though I don’t think it would be needed. I have not had a class where I think I needed to be in a class with a professor, though, to be fair, I can see a need in some classes where there is a hands on requirement, such as nursing.
Anyways, have a nice day.
UDel, unless I’m wrong, won’t give in-state tuition to Cecil County residents. That would be something for the Delegate to push that would give the residents of Cecil County a great option.
Considering UD is in Delaware, I doubt they’ll be giving in state tuition to MD residents anytime soon….though UD does like to act like a private school when it’s to their benefit and like a public school when it comes to getting money from Dover so who knows, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Many states have reciprocal agreements with other states to allow their students to attend neighboring jurisidctions. Washington D.C. high school students can attend Maryland schools at the in-state rate, Tennessee and Kentucky have it, Texas and Oklahoma have it, Indianna and Ohio have it.
A question would be does it benefit Maryland to do the deal with Deleware? Probably not when you look at the number and quality of State schools in Maryland compared to Deleware. But if you have a reciprocal agreement that limited it to exchanging UDel and Salisbury to meet the regional needs of those two areas, it might be worthwhile to the Eastern Shore as a whole.
If you don’t have a car, yes.
If you have only limited funds for gas, still yes.
If you can’t pay cash for the gas to get to class, I doubt you’re also paying cash for your tuition. Transportation and living costs can be included in student loans.
If you don’t have a car, there’s Craigslist junkers, a bicycle or the train.
Did you just say that someone in Harford County can bike to UMBC or Delaware? I am all for green modes of transit and staying fit, but I think even that commute is a little unrealistic. Not to mention there are some people who physically cannot ride a bike, but could drive a car.
And yes, transportation costs can be included in student loans, but not everyone qualifies for a student loan, and some of those people cannot afford a car. In some cases, the loans do not have enough surplus funds to cover all the needs. Further, people who get Pell Grants definitely do not have the extra money to pay the gas, or buy a car, if they don’t already have one.
There is no train from Harford County that will take you to UMBC (MARC will get you within a few miles) or into Delaware. The above suggestion for the downtown colleges (UBalt, etc) was much more on target.
And finally, it is not often wise for someone to take out $5000 loan for school, buy and depend on a “junker” to get to class, then have the “junker” live up to its name, have to drop out of classes, not get their money back, and now have a loan for $5000 that they can’t pay back.
Improved physical, online, and transit access to a vareity of education options is optimal.
Hey Noble,
The MARC train, Penn Line lets out at BWI, and UMBC has its own transit which goes there a number of times throughout the day. UMBC Transit also goes to other places.
The University of Delaware is in Newark with an Amtrak station right off campus. A monthly Amtrak pass can be very affordable.
I do, however, agree with the rest of your statements.
Haven’t been in tha Umbc area much for several years. They didn’t have any transit way back, good to know. Last I checked an Amtrack pass wasnt very affordable but that was some time ago.
Also there are the commuter buses that run downtown from Harco which are reasonable.
the article specified a union of HCC and Towson U. Towson has dorms, and plenty of off campus student housing, both of which can be included in student loans and various grants. It would be nice if there was a larger variety of Universities participating. I don’t understand the discussion/debate of transportation issues, though. From where I live, HCC is a longer commute than Towson is. and from Easton, UDel is probably closer than HCC. What I really would like to see is a bonafide 4 year school come to Harford and/or Cecil. preferably a private one, because the state already over-subsidizes the public ones. but, that’s a debate for another thread.
This is also about space. TU is outgrowing its campus in Towson and needs to expand to meet growing demand. Most HCC students transfer to TU (I am an example of that), so this makes sense that TU would want to build on HCC’s campus.
Also, while loans will cover housing, it is better for the students to borrow less money that they will have to pay back later. They can live at home for couple more years.