One in five C-Falls grads attend FVCC

Flathead Valley Community College started out in 1967 with five educational programs. Today it has more than 50, and students can start taking college classes in high school — for free.

That was just two points touched on by FVCC president Jane Karas during a recent lunch visit in Columbia Falls.

The college’s Running Start program has proven popular with valley high school students and parents alike. Under the program, students can get up to nine credits while they’re still in high school at no charge to the student or their family, Karas said.

This year alone, more than 370 high school juniors and seniors participated in Running Start. Twenty-nine Columbia Falls students took advantage of the program in the spring 2014. In the past two years, one in five Columbia Falls graduates enrolled at FVCC the following semester.

The community college is proving to be an attractive way for young and older adults alike to get a quality education at an affordable price. Annual tuition at the two-year school is $3,746. By contrast, tuition and fees at one of Montana’s four-year colleges is about $6,350 to $6,750.

Many students opt to get a two-year degree at FVCC and then transfer to a four-year school, as the FVCC credits will transfer. Students save about $6,000 in the process. Full-time enrollment at FVCC last spring was 1,459 students, with 2,447 people all told taking classes there.

The FVCC Foundation also offers tuition support, providing more than $546,000 in local scholarships last year. Local students in the top 10 percent of their graduating class can qualify for a tuition and mandatory fee waiver for the first year of school. If they maintain a 3.5 grade point average, the second year’s tuition is waived as well.

Still, many students don’t take advantage of the cost benefits, opting to go to a four-year school right after graduating from high school so they can get away from home.

Karas said there is greater demand for student housing at FVCC. Currently the college has some apartments available through a lease agreement with Kalispell Regional Medical Center, but only 16 apartments are provided.

That’s an issue the board will look at in the future. The board is also considering a possible campus fitness center and a student center.

Many of the programs the college offers were popular with people from Columbia Falls. Zac Perry noted the college’s welding program allows high school students to get welding certification when they graduate from high school. Freedom Bank president Don Bennett said there’s a high demand for welders in the Canadian oil fields.