Ten years ago it wasn’t uncommon to hear a freshman complaining about how difficult it was to make an 8 a.m. class. Or to hear someone say they would like to continue their education but the distance to school makes getting there tough.

The Internet is changing all that.

Across the state, colleges and universities are taking advantage of the latest technology, offering classes on-line, via live broadcasts and on-line-classroom hybrids. Lyon College at Batesville is even handing a free laptop to their students so they can keep up. Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas offers local LPNs a chance to become RNs without leaving Southwest Arkansas.

According to the 2003 U.S. Census, Arkansas ranks 49th in the number of residents who hold a bachelor’s degree. The Arkansas Association of Public Universities (AAPU) wants to raise the state’s standing in the ranks.

Otherwise, the state’s ability to attract good-paying, knowledge-based jobs will be greatly compromised, says Tim Wooldridge, executive director of the nonprofit organization. In the past, the state relied on industrial and agricultural economics, but that will not be enough to keep Arkansas competitive in the future, Wooldridge says.

The Arkansas Department of Higher Education has laid out a simple four-step plan for Arkansas high school students. Follow these steps and you can earn up to $12,000 over four years to attend any Arkansas college. Are you ready?

Step One: Complete the high school core curriculum. What’s that, you ask? 4 units English, 2 units of the same foreign language, 3 units natural science (with labs), including physical science, biology and chemistry or physics, 4 units math (1 unit beyond algebra II and geometry), 3 units social studies.

Pulaski Tech’s two-year distance learning program has the highest enrollment of such classes in the state.

Classes at Arkansas’s two-year public institutions cost a fraction of what the same class costs at a private or public four-year college or university.

It’s never too early to start saving for your child’s college education, financial planners say.

Nancy Smith, marketing director with the Arkansas Student Loan Authority, says it also pays to start thinking about what it will take for your child to get into college long before high school. If your student meets certain academic criteria, there could be “free money,” as Smith said, in your future, in the form of the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship and others. (The Academic Challenge Scholarship, awarded by the state Department of Education, is worth $12,000 over four years. The scholarships are based on ACT scores and gradepoint averages.)

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