Idaho's revolutionary education program has been attracting national attention from various experts in the education sector because of the success of their model. Their secret - pay teenagers directly to manage themselves and graduate early.
The program called "Advanced Opportunities" pays public school students who are in the seventh to twelfth grade $4,125 which they can use in any of the state's post-secondary educational institutions. With that money, students can take extra classes, pay for standardized test fees, or try out courses.
What makes this program unique than other education program is that it encourages high school students to graduate early and take college credits while still in high school. The program is under the Idaho Department of Education.
The program works by awarding students $1,500 scholarship every year for graduating early and for every year they skipped. That means if a student graduates three years earlier than what's expected, she gets $4,500. That amount is enough to cover one year's worth of tuition in some state schools or 40 percent of tuition if they opt to go to the University of Idaho.
One recipient of this program is Cassandra Madrigal, a 17-year old high school senior with 3.94 GPA. She already finished two Advanced Placement classes last year and taking another two this year.
Such privileges were once considered a benefit that only the rich could afford. However, Madrigal has availed of them and will be the first one in her family to attend college when she enrolls at the Idaho State University.
The goal of the program is to even the playing field for students who come from lower-income families. Aside from that, the state of Idaho hopes that more students will be encouraged to attend college.
