OKLAHOMA CITY, Feb. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- TEL Library, a non-profit educational organization based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma has announced a new dual-enrollment initiative to provide affordable general education courses for college credit to rural high schools throughout Oklahoma.
"More than half of all Oklahoma public school students belong to rural districts," said Rob Reynolds, Executive Director of TEL Library. "Many of these districts are looking for affordable, flexible options for providing advanced learning opportunities for their students."
Reynolds explained that TEL is working with Excelsior College, a regionally accredited non-profit college, to provide transcripted, transferable college credit for its courses. "Excelsior helps us to lower the entry-barriers to college study for rural high school students," he said.
As part of the organization's efforts to encourage college study in rural districts, TEL works to make it as easy as possible for schools to adopt its dual-enrollment program. TEL offers schools a catalog of courses that are available for college credit and that have been aligned with state standards. In addition, the organization provides all course materials, course instruction and grading, course administration and recordkeeping, and both course and technical support.
TEL is currently piloting its program with the Pawhuska school district in northern Oklahoma. According to Pawhuska superintendent David Cash, "It's a no brainer really. Accessibility and affordability are the two biggest deterrents in rural public schools. TEL Library takes care of both of those issues."
"Our goal," Reynolds said, "is to make it truly affordable and easy for rural high school students to take their first college courses. We believe the best way to accomplish this is by having them begin college studies within the familiar context of their high schools. This allows them to take advantage of existing resources and to achieve significant savings for a college education."
ABOUT TEL LIBRARY
TEL Library is a non-profit organization committed to facilitating equitable access to high-quality, affordable learning in the U.S. TEL offers its library of general education courses to high schools, colleges and universities, and homeschool parents and organizations. As part of its mission to support affordable life-learning, TEL also maintains a free reference library and offers low-cost certificate courses. For more information, please visit http://www.tellibrary.org.
SOURCE TEL Library
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