TCAT Earns Middle College Designation
Temple College at Taylor (TCAT) has been approved as an early college high school and middle college.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board notified TCAT that its application to receive the designation was approved.

TCAT Director Jan King said she is pleased with the new designation.

“I think it's wonderful for the students to be able to take as many college classes as they would like,” she said. “It will really launch them into college earlier and save them a lot of time.”

This designation is an important key to the success of the College and Workforce Readiness Initiative that Chuck McCarter, executive director for the Texas Bioscience Initiative, will be leading this fall in partnership with Hutto and Taylor economic development corporations, Taylor and Hutto school districts and Region 13 Education Service Center.

McCarter said the Early College High School and Middle College designation is important to the educational growth of East Williamson County. It provides TCAT the ability to allow students who attain the recommended or advanced high school program diploma to earn up to two years of college credit simultaneously.

Early College high schools serve students in grades 9 through 12 while the Middle College programs are limited to high school juniors and seniors.

Students can earn up to 60 hours of college credit while still in high school.

“Our goal will be for a student to graduate from Taylor or Hutto ISD with a diploma in one hand and 60 hours of college credit in the other,” McCarter said.

Early College high schools are small, autonomous schools that blend high school and college into a coherent educational program.

McCarter said Early College high schools serve the developmental and intellectual needs of young people and remove major barriers to postsecondary access and success.

“Students are rewarded for hard work by the opportunity to accelerate and to earn two years of college credit without charge,” he said. “The physical transition between high school and college is eliminated, along with the demands of applications for admission and financial aid. And learning takes place in a personalized environment in which rigorous work is demanded and supported.”

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's mission is to provide the Legislature advice and comprehensive planning capability for higher education, to coordinate the effective delivery of higher education, to administer programs efficiently and to improve higher education for the people of Texas.

King said the students will be approved on an individual basis for the program through the school.