DAPHNE, Ala. — Baldwin County students are now eligible to apply for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a two-year, college preparatory curriculum. Free applications for the $800 course are due by Feb. 20 and can be found online at either daphnehs.com or fairhopehs.com, school officials said Thursday.

Local IB program coordinators at an informational meeting urged students to apply before ninth grade — when there is no cost. Although the Middle Years Programme for grades six through 10 isn’t available in Baldwin County, ninth- and 10-graders who’ve applied for the program will be taught by IB teachers and follow a similar curriculum to prepare for the 11th- and 12-grade program.

The IB program is designed as an academically challenging program for 11th- and 12th-grade students with final exams that prepares them for college by teaching time management and critical thinking skills, according to information supplied at a news conference.

IB is an elective program similar to the Advanced Placement curricula.

School officials Thursday explained that after applications are filed, a writing assessment and interview will be held at the end of February. The interview assures that students are self-motivated.

“It helps us see the student in another way and helps us be sure the student wants to do it,” Joe Roh, Daphne IB program coordinator, said.

Students will be notified in mid-March of their invitation to the program. Upon acceptance, students will begin class scheduling, Melinda Oliver, Fairhope IB coordinator said.

There’s no cost for ninth- and 10th-graders but $400 will be charged at the start of 11th and 12th grades to offset test costs, postage and education materials, Roh said.

There will be no transportation cost; students from Spanish Fort and Baldwin County High School will be bussed to Daphne High School, and those from Gulf Shores, Foley and Robertsdale high schools will be bussed to Fairhope High School.

The IB program is open to all students — not just those in the top of the class, Roh said.

“It’s not just for the academically elite,” he said. “You have to work and you have to want to do it.”

Advantages of hard work in IB include college credits and scholarship opportunities. A Texas student received 52 college credits and a $20,000 scholarship due to the IB program, Roh said.

“It (IB) gives students an extra level of competitiveness that students in Baldwin County need because college entries are at an all-time high,” Oliver said.

“This program gives confidence and stretches the students,” Roh said. “They say, ‘I can do anything, I can write any paper, I can apply for an Ivy League school.’”

More information can be found at www.ibo.org/country/US or by contacting Roh at 626-8787 ext. 341.

Alternatively, contact Roh by e-mail, jroh@bcbe.org, Oliver at 928-8309, ext. 29022 or moliver@bcbe.org.