Sandhills Community College is getting national publicity for the opportunities it extends to high school students in the region.

The New York Times mentioned SCC in a recent article that focused on SandHoke Early College High School, part of the Hoke County school system. It offers a five-year program that allows students to earn a high-school diploma and associate’s degree from Sandhills simultaneously.

The SandHoke initiative is one of several programs the college has that lets high school students get a jump-start on their college education. It can be a defined program like SandHoke offers, or simply an a la carte selection of different courses.

“We do offer lots of different programs for high school students, not just Hoke County students but Moore County students as well,” SCC President John Dempsey said. “Some are more structured than others. But the fundamental purpose of all of them is to give students a chance to get some college credits under their belts while they’re in high school.”

There are a wide-range of options popular with both parents and students alike. Perhaps the most attractive part of the offer is that the Moore County school system and the college have partnered together to make the courses free of charge.

Now several hundred students in both Moore and Hoke counties take classes at SCC in one form or another. They are offered at the college’s main campus, at the high schools or online.

For a national newspaper like The Times to pick up on the college’s work is exciting for Dempsey, the Board of Trustees and the rest of the Sandhills community. Having the Hoke County program recognized is particularly gratifying, Dempsey said, because it extends the college’s recognition beyond the Moore County campus.

For more on this story, see Friday’s print edition of The Pilot.