Metro Community College offers free tuition for Nebraska high school students

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Community college just became even more affordable.

Now, at Metropolitan Community College, it’s free. But only for current Nebraska high school students.

That means nearly 100,000 kids in Nebraska are eligible for free college credits at MCC. The no-cost tuition is effective now, and high school students can even register for classes in this upcoming fall quarter.

“The opportunity to get credits even before you leave high school is just a phenomenal opportunity,” said Tom McDonnell, VP for MCC Academic Affairs.

And footing the bill is the federal government.

“It’s all ARPA funds, and we think it’ll probably last us a good three years. And we’ll try to work on what happens beyond that three-year window,” said McDonnell.

“This funding that’s being provided is waiving the cost of tuition for any high school student in any one of our programs delivered here,” said Jordan Pirtle, director of MCC Secondary Partnerships.

And there are multiple different programs that a high schooler can take advantage of. That includes concurrent enrollment, online classes, and even on-campus classes at MCC.

Credits earned with this free tuition can go towards an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. And that’s not just at MCC. Many of these credits are transferable to state colleges and other four-year institutions. What that means is potentially shaving off two years of a four-year college – for free.

A Metro credit hour costs $68 but at UNO it can be nearly four times that.

“Our courses are highly transferable, and that’s especially true when you’re talking about transferring to UNO, UNL, the university system in the state, the state college system,” said McDonnell. “You’re going to be able to take care of most of your general education requirements and maybe even some requirements for within the major itself.”

That means potentially thousands of dollars saved if high schoolers take advantage of this opportunity.

All they have to do besides registering is put in the work.

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