By Dr. James Mitchell | Mitchell is president of Wallace Community College Selma.

I am not a proponent of taking on too much debt to attend a four-year college. The average college graduate walks across the stage at graduation with more than $30,000 in debt.

That means they enter the workforce with an albatross around their necks. It often takes many years to pay it off, even as graduates chase their dreams of owning a home or starting a family.

There is a better way to educate future generations, and community colleges are a vital part of the solution.

Dual enrollment is one program that comprehensive community colleges like Wallace Community College Selma offer to make earning a technical certificate or a college degree more affordable. Simply put, dual enrollment allows a high school student to take college classes while still living at home.

It’s more affordable than spending four years at a university large or small, and these programs give young men and women a chance to mature—and succeed—while completing as much as two years of college or an entire certificate program.

In short, dual enrollment is one of the best deals in higher education.

It also gives students an early look at what college life is like. They use a college syllabus, they attend classes with traditional college students and they are exposed to college-level instruction.

It’s not only good for students. It’s good for business and industry, too. In higher education, we are seeing a push from business and industry to get graduates in and out quickly.

We can’t supply labor fast enough. By 2020, 65 percent of jobs will demand a degree or some type of certification. Community colleges are a critical part of the solution to this challenge.

It will take innovative programs and more partnerships to meet the needs. Wallace Community College Selma is one of the few campuses in the state offering a coding program developed and funded by Apple. Right here in Selma, high school students can get involved in the coding program through dual enrollment.

That means students as young as high school juniors and seniors can dream of becoming entrepreneurs while they learn to develop apps. In Alabama alone, there are 6,000 coding jobs available. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for a computer programmer is $82,000.

Since app development is not a high-capital business, the sky is the limit for these students. One good app can change a student’s life forever.

If you compare the cost per credit hour of a two-year versus a four-year school, it’s much less. At Wallace Community College Selma, one credit hour costs $119, while an hour can cost considerably more at a four-year school.

Imagine the cost savings if a student can get two years of general education at a community college while in high school. After completing high school, they would only have to pay for two years at a four-year college.

That saves a substantial amount of money, reduces debt and puts the student into the workforce more quickly.

In areas where poverty is rampant, dual enrollment is sometimes the only way to open doors to a four-year degree for students who are often first-generation college students.

Dual enrollment creates opportunities colleges for students who may not be able to afford a major college right after graduation, but it also creates jobs for others as soon as they finish high school.

Dual enrollment students who pursue careers in welding, electrical, nursing and other programs are highly recruited.

They often get hired at high-wage jobs the day they graduate from high school.

At Wallace Community College Selma, we offer welding on campus and in local high schools to students who can earn a certificate in one year.

Our welding students are often excited when former welding students come back and show off their pay stubs. Welders command good salaries, and there is no shortage of work.

Dual enrollment students can also be prepared for careers as nurses or electricians as soon as they graduate.

In every case, they are more quickly prepared for the workforce than most.

Finally, dual enrollment is important because it produces better students and stronger citizens. One study shows dual enrollment students have higher GPAs than non-dual enrolled students. Other studies show dual enrolled students make better citizens. They are less likely to be incarcerated.  They vote, they pay taxes and they are more involved in their communities.

In order for us to compete in the global economy, we must have more workers with college degrees and certifications. The challenges we face are daunting, but dual enrollment holds promise as the best way to meet them.