Laing receives Master’s Degree from University of Texas

Conor Laing, a 2012 Lake County High School Graduate received his Master’s Degree from the University of Texas at Austin over the weekend. Conor participated in the concurrent enrollment at the High School. Lake County School District wishes Conor the best wherever life leads. We know he is off to a great start!

Article below contributed by Mike McKibbin of Colorado Mountain College

Leadville grad credits CMC for preparing him for master’s degree

Says ‘I’d just be finishing up my bachelor’s degree’ without concurrent enrollment

LEADVILLE – Conor Laing doesn’t think he would be where he is today without Colorado Mountain College and the concurrent enrollment classes he took six years ago.

Laing will soon receive his master’s degree from the public policy program at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

“Without CMC, I would not be where I am today,” he said. “I owe a debt of gratitude to that school.”

Laing received an Associate of Arts degree from Colorado Mountain College in May 2012, and then graduated from Lake County High School the following month. He then earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science at Fort Lewis College in Durango.

He praised Colorado Mountain College and the concurrent enrollment program for providing “solid academics” and helping him earn his bachelor’s degree debt-free.

“If not for the dual enrollment program, I would not be graduating with a master’s degree at [the age of] 22,” he said. “I’d just be finishing up my bachelor’s degree.”

Through Colorado’s Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act, high school students can take college-level courses while they are in high school, which helps them to graduate from college early and save money. Throughout the college’s service area, many concurrent enrollment classes are taught in local high schools or online.

Laing will get his master’s degree on May 21, then likely spend one more year in Texas “to see if I like it enough to stay or come back to Colorado. I miss the mountains,” he said.

He said he has been interested in politics since he was in middle school.

“My family was always active in issues and my mom taught us about civics and how important it was,” he said. His mother, Mary Laing, is the admissions and concurrent enrollment coordinator for CMC in Leadville.

Currently an analyst with Consumer Reports magazine while he finishes his studies in Texas, Laing said he hopes to find a job related to his master’s degree and wouldn’t rule out running for public office some day.