Del Mar College is expanding its dual credit tuition waiver program to include private school and home-schooled students in fall 2025.
This means that students at schools like Annapolis Christian Academy, St. John Paul II High School, Arlington Heights Christian Academy, Grace Temple Academy and Incarnate Word Academy, as well as home-schooled students, won’t have to pay for tuition or fees when taking a dual credit course at Del Mar College.
The Del Mar College board of regents unanimously approved the waiver for private school and home-schooled students on Tuesday.
This academic year, the college has 94 dual credit enrollment students from private schools or home school. This includes some online classes, as well as some students who come to campus to attend class in person with other college students.
Currently, private school students pay just more than $33 per credit hour. The college collected about $40,000 in dual enrollment revenue from home-schooled and private school students last fiscal year.
The college previously eliminated dual credit tuition costs for students from partnering public schools, shifting to a state funding model.
Del Mar College President Mark Escamilla said that the tuition waiver program for dual credit creates an opportunity for enrollment growth.
“The gains are going to be first and foremost for those students, financially, long term,” Escamilla said.
Del Mar College regent David Loeb said that he heard from interested home schooling parents and private schools after the college waived tuition for public school dual credit students.
This spring, 3,268 high school students were enrolled in a dual credit course. Dual credit head counts at Del Mar College have been rising since 2022. Last spring, the dual credit headcount was 2,965.
The college also plans to waive tuition for qualifying full-time students who complete an associate degree within three years beginning with freshmen who start in fall 2025.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: DMC waives dual credit costs for private school, home school students