MIAMI DADE DUAL ENROLLMENT: MDC LEADS STATE WITH 6,000 STUDENTS High Schoolers Earn College Credits at No Cost At just 16, Jasmine Lago will graduate in May from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School. But her diploma will set her apart from her peers, be-cause she’s taking with her course credits from Miami Dade College that will transfer toward a college degree. Lago is a dual enrollment student, meaning she spends part of her day studying at the high school and part in classes at MDC’s Hialeah Campus. Her schedule can be hectic, but the rewards are invaluable, both financially and aca-demically: She earned 15 credits at no cost and will graduate with a full college semester already under her belt. Nearly 60,000 students are taking advantage of Florida’s dual enrollment program, which be-gan in 1979. Of those, MDC boasts the largest head count, with more than 6,000 students spread across Miami-Dade County. They repre-sent a 35% increase over 2021-2022 enroll-ees, outpacing a smaller national uptick. The college-level credits that students earn count to-ward both high school graduation and a college degree or certificate. “I love being a part of dual enrollment,” said Lago, who plans to pursue an architecture de-gree at Florida International University, where she also took some dual enrollment classes. “The classes allow me to accelerate my college experience and give me an edge when applying to different schools.” Dr. Georgette Perez, president of MDC’s Hialeah Campus, has spent much of her career COLLEGE f orum March 2023 • Volume 27 • Number 1 in dual enrollment at the College. She credits MDC’s flexible delivery options and student en-gagement as keys to success. “Dual enrollment has great support from the College’s leadership,” she said. “MDC has al-lowed remarkable flexibility to meet students where they are and remove obstacles, such as transportation, and we are continuously increas-ing our engagement efforts.” Continued on page 10 Dual enrollment students from Westland High School and Dr. Georgette Perez, Hialeah Campus president, center Miami Dade College Delivers World-Class Cinema Miami Film Festival Returns for 40th Year Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival (MFF) concluded its milestone 40th edition with a lineup of poignant and impactful films, adding to its long history of showcasing rich cinematic works. Presented both in-theater and virtually over 10 days in March, the 2023 Festival delighted at-tendees with in-person appearances by Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage , popular co-median Ray Romano – whose directorial debut Somewhere in Queens opened the festival – and lauded actors John Leguizamo and Diego Luna . The Festival also introduced the inaugural Variety Virtuoso award, given to Luna, whose contributions to cinema have been praised since his 2001 breakthrough performance in Alfonso Cuarón’s Spanish-language Y Tu Mamá También . “As important as it is for us to be Democracy’s College, we take it just as seriously to be the cultural engine of this community, and no com-munity can be world class if it doesn’t have a deeper appreciation of the arts,” said MDC President Madeline Pumariega. Closing the festival was director Stephen Frears’ The Lost King . Four other films were spotlighted as centerpiece presentations, which ranged from the true under-dog story of Spain’s 1992 Summer Olympics water polo team to a retelling of the rise of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner. Continued on page 11 Nicolas Cage and Emily Longeretta, left, Variety’s senior TV features editor
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