Superintendents from throughout the Coastal Bend gathered at Del Mar College's Oso Creek campus Tuesday, with a sharp focus on a program that's been benefitting students, DMC's Dual Enrollment Program. The second annual Superintendents' Symposium brought together school district officials to review the program's success.
Del Mar College President Dr. Mark Escamilla outlined the relationships with the many school districts and the programs evolution.
"Our inextricable relationship from each other has been a critical key of growing these dual enrollment students," he said. "Now we're serving over 5,000 students, both on the credit and the continuing education side of the house, so it's a big, big effort and you know, I'm really proud of the efforts that our team has undertaken to grow these partnerships."
According to figures from DMC, the Dual Enrollment program has grown nearly 40 percent from Fall 2020 to the current semester, with nearly 3,700 students getting a huge push through the programs access. The program helps students in their efforts to either train for the work force, or look at transferability to the university level.
The school district/college relationship is key to success. Flour Bluff ISD superintendent Chris Steinbruck was one of the superintendents who spoke at the symposium also outlined the partnership between school district and Del Mar, as well as other groups
"As things change rapidly, especially today, with AI and manufacturing that we're staying ahead of what the workforce really needs from our students, what skills they need, what equipment we need to be training them on so having a partner like Del Mar right down the road from us is vital," he said.
Students in the Dual Enrollment program make up over 31 percent of DMC's Fall 2025 credit enrollment, totaling to over 11,000 students overall. Another program that got high marks was the Freedom to Dream waiver program, which highlights not only graduating seniors who took part in the Dual Enrollment program, but also graduating seniors who had not taken DMC-credit courses in high school.
Dr. Leonard Rivera, who oversees the DMC Dual Enrollment and Continuing Education, says Del Mar College is working to be a leading force in building a workforce for today, and the future, with there programs.