Course fee elimination in Houston Community College’s dual credit office have not had the same effect on Katy ISD students as in neighboring Fort Bend ISD. The program’s enrollment in FBISD surged nearly 186 percent between the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years, while the number of enrolled KISD students has dropped, according to data from the school districts.
HCC eliminated the $216 course fees for dual credit classes in 2016, which were levied against students who live outside the community college’s taxing district. Dual credit was also extended to all grades instead of only 11th- and 12th-graders thanks to the passage of House Bill 505 in 2015.
Nevertheless, about 16 percent fewer KISD students enrolled in dual credit in 2015-16 than in 2014-15. Cazilda Steele, KISD executive director of secondary curriculum and instruction, attributed the low interest in dual credit to several factors.
“We have a really robust [Advanced Placement] program,” she said. “More students would rather take that because their GPA is weighted.”
