Huskins Program may get cut as education budget shrinks

The Huskins Program has allowed students at the high school level to earn college credit, but with state budget cuts on the way, this program maybe on the chopping block.

The proposed House version of the state budget eliminates funding for the Huskins Program, which allows high schoolers to take college classes free of charge.

The students get both college and high school credit.

Cutting the program would save the state more than $17 million, and would impact about a thousand students in Pender and New Hanover counties.

It could also affect the jobs of 80 community college teachers.

“You’re basically closing the door to education to students who really need it especially in these economic times when education is needed more than ever, especially to high school students who are in that transition when they don’t know what they are going to be doing in the future. It’s better to see them in college or employed than anyplace else,” said CFCC spokesperson David Hardin.

Funding would continue for students enrolled in the early college high schools.

Community colleges statewide are already facing their own funding challenges. The state has already proposed to cut between ten and twenty percent of their funding and it is feared there won’t be enough money to support the influx of newly enrolled students or hiring new staff.