Learn and Earn wins Harvard recognition

RALEIGH -- The Learn and Earn program, which makes college more accessible and affordable for the state's public high school students, has received an award for innovation from Harvard University.

The program was one of six winners of the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards, which are given by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

The award comes with a $100,000 grant, and it gives a boost to Gov. Mike Easley, who championed Learn and Earn as a way to reduce the dropout rate while ensuring the state's work force is competitive in a global economy.

Easley acknowledges that even as the program gains national acclaim, he has more work to do to sell it at home. Although the program's online enrollment is growing, it's nowhere near what state officials envisioned. The state has committed to marketing the program more aggressively.

"People across the country know more about this program than the kids who are actually going to take advantage of it," Easley told reporters Tuesday.

Learn and Earn has three components:

* Sixty Learn and Earn Early College High Schools allow students to attend high school on a college campus. In five years, students can earn a high school diploma and two years of college credit or an associate's degree. Nearly 7,000 students are enrolled for the fall.

* Learn and Earn Online is available to high school students across the state. Students earn college credit through online course work. This fall, 5,000 students are expected to enroll.

* Grants make college tuition more affordable.

"I think what impressed me about Learn and Earn in terms of its innovativeness is its breadth and scope," said Mary Jo Dunnington, a consultant who assessed Learn and Earn for the Ash Institute. "It's bold and aggressive."

Easley has a few months left in office. He said Tuesday he's confident the program will thrive.

"Awards like this continue to give it more momentum," Easley said. "Nobody's against it. Everybody's for it. So regardless of who is in the next administration or the next legislature, they'll support it because the people support it."

Learn and Earn's Web site is www.nclearnandearn.gov.