A new semester is beginning at Pearl River Community College and while many students are registering for college courses, several campuses are also offering free adult education courses.
Ruby Smith, adult education coordinator for the Picayune, Poplarville and Hancock campuses, said registration will take place Thursday and Friday.
The program provides adults with free preparation courses for two state-certified high school equivalency exams, the GED and HiSET, Smith said.
The only fee associated with the program is when students decide to take the exam, Smith said.
The GED costs $120, or $30 per part, and the HiSET—which was just approved in July—costs $85 or $17 per part, Smith said.
So far, more students have elected to take the HiSET rather than the GED because of the cost, she said. Though, Smith said students have scored equally well on both exams.
Both are based on Common Core standards, and after a new version of the GED was created in 2014, other companies began developing their own versions of the equivalency exam, Smith said.
“The cost difference has [had] an effect to make [adults] want to take the exam,” Smith said.
Before taking practice exams and receiving lessons from instructors, students receive an assessment test to determine weaknesses, Smith said.
Individual lesson plans are then designed for each student on a weekly basis until they are prepared to take the final exam, she said.
Classes are offered during the day and evenings at the Poplarville, Picayune and Hancock campuses, Smith said.
Poplarville classes are held Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to noon or Tuesday and Thursday from 3 to 7:30 p.m.
Picayune’s WIN job center holds a class Monday through Thursday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. The Hancock campus holds classes Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to noon and Monday and Wednesday from 1 to 5 p.m.
“We try to offer hours to help work around schedules or family lives, even if we have to sit down with them and come up with a schedule,” Smith said.
Registration starts this week, Smith said. Registration at the Picayune WIN Job Center, located at 2005 Wildwood Road, will be held Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The Poplarville campus will hold registration Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second floor of Jeff Davis Hall. The Hancock campus will be open Friday starting at 9 a.m.
Smith said that students who can’t make it this week can register every Wednesday in Poplarville at 1 p.m. In Picayune, registration is available every Friday 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and in Hancock every Friday at 9 a.m.
The classes are open ended so students can begin and end the course as it suits their schedule and needs, she said.
For more information, call 601-554-5551 or 601-403-1431.