KCC partners with OSU for ag

Students will pay KCC’s lower tuition for their first two years

By RYAN PFEIL
H&N Staff Writer

December 18, 2008

H&N photo by Ryan Pfeil
Klamath Community College’s natural resource systems chair Keith Duren looks at a pollen specimen in one of KCC’s new science classrooms.

College-bound students planning on earning a four-year degree in agriculture soon will have an option of starting their degrees at Klamath Community College.

A new partnership between KCC and Oregon State University will give agriculture students the option of attending KCC for their first two years before transferring to OSU in Corvallis with automatic junior standing.

“It’s a really good opportunity for someone majoring in agriculture,” said Keith Duren, department chair for natural resource systems at KCC. “It’s got to be the best bargain in higher education.”

KCC and OSU officials hope to start the program by spring term.

“We’re right at the point where we’re just sending the document back and forth to put the final signatures on it,” said Greg Thompson, OSU department chair for agriculture education.

Duren presented the idea as a means of attracting more students to KCC while providing Klamath County agriculture employers with better-prepared students.

“We’re supposed to serve the people of this community,” Duren said. “Klamath County is an agriculture county. It’s our No. 1 industry.”

Applied technology in agriculture, biotechnology, genetic engineering and biofuel technology are agriculture jobs increasing in popularity, Duren said.

Classes will be the same as the first two years of general education and science class sequences at OSU. All credits will transfer in a student’s third year.

“The student is going to walk out of here not missing a beat,” said Gerald Hamilton, KCC president.

Students will pay KCC rates for classes their first two years at $65 per credit hour. They will pay OSU rates their junior and senior years.

“With the cost of higher education, it’s great for students,” Thompson said.

Officials also hope the program will help students finish their degrees instead of dropping out of school. Students have the greatest chance of dropping out their first two years than at any other time, Duren said. They may have not been ready to leave home or needed a longer break after high school before starting college.

“That’s half of the people I went to college with,” Duren said.

OSU has similar partnerships with Rogue, Clackamas and Lane community colleges.

“It’s just a win-win for everyone,” Thompson said.

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