Education Guide 2013

within the valuationsincreases from our 18county service area.”

“We know our localtaxpayers appreciateus not raising ourlevy, however, we feltthat it was time tohelp our students — ifwe could make thenumbers work,” headded.

While county valua-tions are not reporteduntil August and thecollege budget won’tbe finalized and ap-proved until mid-Sep-tember, it was impor-tant to make the deci-

sion to freeze rates sothat those makingplans to attend collegenext fall will have ac-curate figures to workwith.

“Our per-credit hourtuition and fees for Ne-braska and states thatborder our servicearea and western Ne-braska is $92,” Purdysaid. “The approxi-mate cost for a full 15-hour load is roughly$2,760 per year. Ourhousing and mealplans are roughly two-thirds the costs of oneof the state colleges or

at one of the schoolsin the university sys-tem. If they do raisetheir rates by theamounts that they arepredicting, attendingthe first two yearswith us at either Mc-Cook or North Plattemakes even moresense.”

For more detailed in-formation, please con-tact 800-658-4348 forMcCook CommunityCollege or 800-658-4308ext. 3601 for NorthPlatte Community Col-lege or www.mpcc.edufor both colleges.

EDUCATION GUIDE2 SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 2013 THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

By CHUCK SALESTROMSpecial to the Telegraph

Last week, Ne-braska’s univer-sity and state

college systems an-nounced that if theUnicameral’s Appro-priations Committeewon’t increase theirfunding, they will askfor a range of tuition,fees, housing, andmeal increases of 5-7.5percent.

At his Mid-PlainsCommunity CollegeBoard of Governorsmeeting in February,President Ryan Purdy

told the MPCC Boardof Governors thatwhile the state’s com-munity colleges werenot part of the univer-sity/state college ap-propriation increase,he had led a discus-sion among seniorleadership as towhether MPCC couldfreeze tuition, fees,housing and meals forthe 2013-14 academicyear. At that time, Pur-dy also told the Boardthat several other com-munity colleges in thestate were consideringfreezes of their own.

However, as the five

other community col-leges have indicatedduring the past fewweeks, all will increasetheir rates next year.

That won’t be thecase at MPCC. Mid-Plains CommunityCollege, with campus-es in McCook, NorthPlatte, Broken Bow,Ogallala, Valentineand Imperial, will hon-or its promise and willnot only freeze tuition,but also not increaseits associated fees,housing, and mealplans for the 2013-14academic year.

“For the past fiveyears, we have not in-creased our local prop-erty tax levy,” saidPurdy. “We have main-tained our budget

MPCC ‘freeze’ keeps tuition affordableMid-Plains honors promise tostudents by keeping costs low

Mid-Plains Community Collegeserves an 18-county region inwest central Nebraska, extend-ing from the Kansas state linenorth to the South Dakota bor-der. MPCC has colleges in NorthPlatte and McCook.

MPCC offers Associate of Arts,Associate of Science and Asso-ciate of General Studies degreesfor students intending to com-plete a baccalaureate degree atan upper division institution.

The Associate of Applied Sci-ence degree at MPCC is de-signed to prepare studentsthrough a comprehensive pro-gram of study in a specific occu-pation to enter the work forceupon graduation.

MPCC also offers several diplo-ma and certificate programs in avariety of fields. For more infor-mation about the programs avail-able through MPCC, call 535-3600.

About Mid-Plains Community College

Students study in the fireplace area at North Platte Community College.

Courtesy photo

By DIANE [email protected]

It’s that time of year,when high school studentsand their parents anxious-ly await news of college ac-ceptance and make theirway through the financialaid gauntlet.

In January, PresidentBarack Obama signed leg-islation to ward off the“fiscal cliff ” that wouldhave meant widespread taxincreases and spendingcuts. What does that legis-lation and the looming se-quester mean for financialaid?

The fiscal cliff legisla-tion, known as the Ameri-can Taxpayer’s Relief Act,had some good news forstudents going to college.

The legislation extendsthe American OpportunityTax Credit, a partially re-fundable tax credit thathelps students and familiespay for college for the nextfive years.

THE AOTC provides upto $2,500 in tax credits onthe first $4,000 of qualify-ing educational expenses,which includes books andcourse materials.

To qualify for the fillAOTC credit, adjustedgross income must be lessthan $90,000 if single or fil-ing as head of household,or $180,000 if married andfiling jointly. Money spentfor tuition, fees, and booksin the first four years ofcollege counts toward thecredit.

According to the Ameri-can Association of Com-

munity Colleges, that taxcredit reaches millions ofcommunity college stu-dents a year. The creditprovided more than $18 bil-lion is assistance to collegestudents and their familiesin 2012.

Spending cuts may be onthe way, however. The fis-cal cliff legislation delayedacross-the board sequestercuts for two months, theAACC reports, adding thatthe cuts were estimated at8.2 percent for all nonex-empt domestic discre-tionary programs.

Mid-Plains CommunityCollege president RyanPurdy recently sat down totalk about the impact ofthe fiscal cliff on financialaid locally.

“We received about thesame amount in grantfunding for the comingyear of 2013-14,” he said.

“For example, the Perkinsgrand allotment to thestate was untouched. Thatis good news for the col-lege. As far as the other biggrants are concerned, theyare not looking to reducethe size of the awards, butlooking to reduce the num-ber of future awards.”

Federal Pell grants, mon-ey awarded to undergradu-ate students has seen an in-crease in the maximumdollars students can re-ceive next year.

“If they do end up cut-ting PELL funds, it won’tnecessarily be at the topend,” Purdy said. “Theywill raise the family contri-bution. For example, if theExpected Family Contribu-tion is $20,000, they willprobably move it down to$15,000. That’s where I seethem making the tweaks.”

If PELL grant funding is

cut, community collegeslike MPCC could benefit,he said.

“If we lose PELL, a lot ofstudents that are planningto go to higher pricedschools, their moms anddads may say, okay, wedon’t qualify for PELL anylonger so we are going tosend you back to a commu-nity college.”

“Until we see how the im-pact of the sequester rollsout, it is going to be hard togauge what will happen,there are just so manythings up in the air rightnow,” he said. “As far as theamount of dollars we aregetting in grants now, it’snot significant.”

A full PELL grant for stu-dents attending MPCC willcover the cost of tuitionand fees and books, Purdysaid.

“It may not cover full tu-ition at a four-year collegelike the University,” hesaid. “It may cover 80 per-cent, but you still have$10,000 in room and boardon top of that. Studentsand parents need to beaware of that.”

Data shows that studentswho begin their post-sec-ondary education at a com-munity college and trans-fer on to a four-year collegeor university usually dobetter than those who godirectly to a four-yearschool.

“If you look at thosestats, why wouldn’t youwant to go to a communitycollege where you can liter-ally save tens of thousandsof dollars over two yearsand then transfer,” Purdysaid. “Sometime peoplethink community collegesare for students who could-n’t make it at a four-yearcollege. That’s not true. Wewill take any student.”

EDUCATION GUIDE SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 2013 3THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

North PlattePublic SchoolsDistrict Administration301 West F St., 535-7100

ElementarySchoolsBuffalo Elementary1600 N. Buffalo Bill Ave. 535-7130 Cody Elementary2000 W. Second St. 535-7132 Eisenhower Elementary3900 West A St. 535-7134 Hall School3199 N. Studley Rd. 532-2470 Jefferson Elementary700 E. Third St. 535-7136 Lake Maloney School848 E. Correction Line Rd.532-9392 Lincoln Elementary200 W. Ninth St. 535-7132 McDonald Elementary601 McDonald Rd. 535-7140 Osgood ElementarySouth Hwy 83 535-7144 Washington Elementary600 W. Third St. 535-7142

Middle schoolsAdams Middle School1200 McDonald Rd. 535-7112, 535-7114 —Counselor’s officeMadison Middle School1400 N. Madison Avenue535-7126 535-7127 – Counselors office

High schoolNorth Platte High School1220 W. Second St. 535-7105 opt 1 535-7105 opt 4 — Coun-selor’s office; 535-7105 opt5 — Activities office

The LearningCenter 1400 N. Madison Avenue 535-5311

Funding sources can be a boostTax credits, loans,grants available to help qualifyingstudents afford their college tuition

A faculty member guilds a student in a computer lab at NorthPlatte Community College in North Platte. MPCC President RyanPurdy says grant and loan funding has been crucial to the edu-cation of many.

Name here / The North Platte Telegraph


By DIANE [email protected]

Mid-Plains CommunityCollege saw a record enroll-ment in 2012, on pace withother community collegesin the state and across thecountry.

“In the last five years,community colleges in Ne-braska saw an average en-rollment increase of 18.8percent,” said MPPC presi-dent Ryan Purdy. “We are at17.95 percent increase inthat same five-year timeframe.”

An education at a commu-

nity college means less debtfrom student loans.

The average student loandebt for a graduate ofMPCC is between $2,700 to$3,000, Purdy said.

According to the Projecton Student Debt, the aver-age loan debt for graduatesin Nebraska in 2011 was$24,287.

With unemployment ratesfor recent college graduateshigh in many states and thenumber of college gradu-ates with student loan debtcontinues to increase, a newreport from the State High-er Education Executive Of-

ficers Association empha-sizes the continuing eco-nomic benefits of earning acollege degree.

The report presents na-tional and state wage datafrom 2009-10, divided intoseven degree categories;arts and humanities, busi-ness, social, education, be-havioral sciences, STEM(science, technology, engi-neering and math), healthand trades.

Community collegesaward the most arts and hu-manities degrees, and asso-ciate degree holders in thatcategory earn a median in-come of $32,244, which is 27percent higher than incomeearned by people in thefield with only a high schooleducation.

An associate degree froma community college in aSTEM field pays nearly aswell as that of a bachelor-degree.

According to a recent arti-cle published in Communi-ty College Week, nearly 30percent of Americans withassociates degrees nowmake more than those withbachelor degrees, accordingto Georgetown University’sCenter for Education andthe Workforce. New re-search shows that on aver-age, community collegegraduates make more rightout of school than gradu-ates of four-year universi-ties.

While bachelor degreeholders often catch up inearnings by mid-career, get-

ting a four-year degree ismuch more expensive thanearning a two-year associ-ates degree.

“That makes communitycolleges very good deals,”Purdy said.

Community college: A great dealMid-Plains Community Collegesees a 17.95 jump in enrollment

Time and Temperature

532-6007

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By SARA GIBONEYWorld-Herald News Service

KEARNEY — “Gains andLosses from School Consoli-dation in the Great Plains”will be the theme for the 39thannual Center for GreatPlains Studies symposium.

“This theme serves as alaunching point to give par-ticipants the opportunity toconnect the pros and cons ofschool consolidation withprotecting the quality of lifein rural communities,” Sym-posium chairman and Uni-versity of Nebraska at Kear-ney professor Peter Longosaid in a press release.

More than one-third ofU.S. children attend schoolin rural areas or smalltowns. Many communitiesin the Great Plains havebeen losing population fornearly a century.

School consolidation is anapproach already chosen bymany school districts whileothers struggle to find differ-ent strategies.

“Rural schools in smallcommunities are one of themost important civic enti-ties in the town and it’s oneof those key elements of atown that allows a town tomaintain itself,” said RickEdwards, symposium chair-man and director of the Cen-ter for Great Plains Studies.

“Schools help maintainthe vitality of rural commu-nities. When you have de-clining populations in smalltowns, it adds pressure toconsolidate.”

As part of Rural SchoolsWeek in Nebraska, the Cen-ter for Great Plains Studiesat the University of Nebras-

ka will host the symposiumApril 5-6 at the University ofNebraska at Kearney andthe Younes Conference Cen-ter.

Edwards said ruralschools often struggle be-tween wanting to keep theiridentity with a school and of-fering students more cours-es and opportunities.

The symposium, which isopen to the public, will ad-dress the causes and conse-quences of school consolida-tion, the politics of schoolconsolidation, school consoli-dation trends across thecountry, its effects on stu-dents, how to sustain the vi-tality of rural schools and ru-ral communities and how tosupport rural math teachers.

University of Nebraskachancellors also will talkabout the connection be-tween the university and ru-ral schools.

The symposium will fea-ture more than two dozenspeakers including Gov.Dave Heineman, MartyStrange and several schooldistrict superintendents anduniversity deans.

Paul Theobold, author ofseveral books on rural edu-cation and a dean at BuenaVista University, will givethe keynote address. He haspublished widely on the top-ic of community and place-based education, the ideathat learning through theoutdoor environment and astudent’s community is akey component of a strongeducation.

His symposium topic willbe “Rural Schools and Com-munities at the Intersectionof Assumptions and Evi-dence.”

The symposium also willfeature a free concert by theHutchins Consort, a photog-

raphy exhibition at the Mu-seum of Nebraska Art andsandhill crane watching.

At MONA, photographerCharles Guildner’s photo-graphs will be on display inthe exhibit, “Rural Schoolsof Nebraska: Photographsby Charles Guildner.”

This is the first time theCenter for Great Plains Stud-ies symposium is takingplace at UNK.

For more informationabout the conference, go towww.unl.edu/plains oremail [email protected].

The Center for GreatPlains Studies is a four-cam-pus interdisciplinary, re-search and teaching pro-gram. Its mission is to pro-mote a greater understand-ing of the people, culture,history, and environment ofthe Great Plains through avariety of research, teach-ing, and outreach programs.

Small-town education in the spotlightNorth PlatteCatholicSchools St. Patrick Juniorand Senior HighSchool500 S. Silber 532-1874McDaid Elementary 1002 East E532-1874

OurRedeemerLutheranSchool1400 East E532-6421

Platte ValleyChristianAcademy1521 Rodeo Rd.534-8883

Rural schools and consolidationtopics of upcomingNeb. symposium

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To subscribe

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Students at Hershey Public Schools celebrated the start of state testing season with a pep rally onMarch 25. Rural schools will be the focus of a symposium taking place on April 5-6 in Kearney.

Telegraph file photo


By DAVID PENNERWorld-Herald News Service

LEXINGTON — The Lex-ington Public School (LPS)District will not be reconfig-uring the landscape of itselementary schools in thenear future after all.

That was the messagesent out by LPS Superinten-dent John Hakonson thisweek to LPS staff.

The district was looking at

restructuring Morton, Persh-ing and Sandoz elementaryschools from neighborhoodelementary schools into ele-mentary campuses, whereeach school would hold twospecific grade levels.

However, after hearingthe public’s input — for andagainst — during three pub-lic presentations of the planat the Lexington Public Li-brary, and in light of newinformation provided by

the Nebraska Departmentof Education (NDE), thedistrict has decided not toenact the plan at this time.

“We are not going to pur-sue the elementary grade re-configuration for 2013-2014,”Hakonson told staff in anemail sent out on Thursday,adding that the district mayrevisit the reconfiguringidea at a later date.

Hakonson stated in anearlier interview that the

Lexington School Boardcould have potentially votedon the plan at its next meet-ing, Monday, April 8.

Hakonson said in theemail that the NDE con-firmed with the district justrecently those schools fac-ing potential “Year 3 correc-tive action” requirementsnext year could use 2013-2014 to plan for changes thatwould need to be imple-mented in 2014-2015.

“Given the number ofquestions/concerns sur-rounding this proposal andthe new knowledge that wehave more time to react toNCLB [No Child Left Be-hind] requirements, wethought it prudent to holdoff,” Hakonson said in theemail. “We will see how ourNeSA scores fare next falland consider reconfigura-tion and potentially otheroptions that are available.”

Area district to ‘hold off’ on reconfiguration

Education Guide 2013

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