College- Post Secondary Enrollment Options

[crisi]

Sometimes the topic of paying for college (and how expensive it is!) comes up. And I was wondering if your state has anything like Minnesota's PSEO (I know Ohio does). We just registered my daughter, who is a Senior in high school, at the local community college. She is registered for 13 Semester credits that qualify for both college and high school credit - and she will register for more for the Spring. Its free (we do get an IRS form for it and pay taxes on the value) including her textbooks (which she does need to return at the end of the Semester).

The program is open to High School Juniors who are in the top 1/3 of their class and High School Seniors in the top 1/2. My daughter didn't want to do it last year because she wasn't ready to leave her friends.

This is in addition to the AP coursework and tests she has taken (five classes, but she only took four tests), and College in the Schools - her Spanish class last year was the first year of a University of Minnesota class that she got U of M (and high school) credit for. Her school doesn't offer an IB (but other Minnesota high schools do - you are generally an AP school or an IB school).

Many of her classmates will leave high school with enough credits to begin college as a Junior. Some will get Associates degrees with their high school diplomas.

Minnesota started this way back in the 1980s as a way to challenge students who were not being challenged by the high school curriculum (the 1980s were not the hotbed of AP courses and Calculus in high school that we have now) and have evolved into a way to make college more affordable for the middle class, as well as challenging those kids who have moved too fast even for AP coursework.

(My favorite of these programs is actually College in the Schools - unlike an AP course, you don't need a test score to get credit, just the grade from the class. And unlike PSEO, its accessible to students without transportation. There are about half a dozen CIS classes offered at my daughter's school)

If your state doesn't offer this, it may be worth a letter to your state representatives.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Here there is something called running start. Very similar but I think it's open to everyone.

It's a lot more popular now than it was 15 years ago- when I was in high school, the only people I knew who did it were home schoolers and odd balls.

I'm not sure it's a huge advantage for everyone, but I know a couple of kids who will graduate from cc at age 17, which is pretty incredible and they have made the most of it. Mostly pre-nursing.

Generally, I think the social aspects of high school are more important, and I've met more kids who should not be in the program than who have made a success of it. The maturity isn't always quite there, and I think the teachers find that frustrating. But academically, some high school curriculums are so poor in terms in math or science that students might as well be earning college credits. My school's math and English program was very strong, but science wise, I would have benefited a lot if I'd just taken those classes at the cc.

 

[crisi]

Which state?

For my daughter, escaping the social aspects of high school is a big part of joining PSEO. High School is a place for bullying and cliques - and she's had some really nasty stuff this past year. For some kids high school is great - for some kids high school is torture. My daughter is one for whom every teacher, counselor and administrator says "she needs out of here." She'll also be an eighteen year old Senior (she is a September birthday, so among the oldest in her class)

 

[teller80]

I actually started a thread about graduating in less than 4 years because of having credits from high school - https://www.disboards.com/threads/graduating-college-in-less-than-4-years.3591850/

Even though (if I remember correctly) most said it still took 4 years to graduate, everyone liked the ability to take more challenging classes and enjoyed the breathing room in their college schedule. PSEO is a great option.

 

[Alexle2007]

My son's sitter for the summer just graduated from HS here in MD and was telling me that she is starting college with a semester of college credits from taking courses at community college her junior and senior year. I think the high school students get a reduced cost on the course. DS10 is going into 6th grade so we have a few years but it is very intriguing to me. I am hoping the guidance counselors help advise on when it is better to take an AP course as opposed going to the CC. I think it seems great for the entry level courses and definitely will be exploring it when we get there.

 

[Colleen27]

There is a program in my area that turns high school into a five-year experience but kids graduate with both a high school diploma and an associates degree from the local CC. Our local district doesn't participate, though, so I'd have to do a school-of-choice transfer to get my kids into the program. I might look into it for DD9 if it seems like she'd be well-suited for it when the time comes. It wasn't a good fit for DS19 - he was one of those that needed out of the HS environment and into the "real" world to thrive - or for DD15, who has her sights set on selective schools that wouldn't take the transfer credits.

 

[runwad]

Yep I'm in Ohio and as you already stated we have this. My 3rd child is enrolled this coming year, he's a Junior. Our high school has some college classes right there at the school. Some of the high school teachers are certified to teach the college classes and some of the classes are on a live feed with the college campus in our area. We chose that option so DS wouldn't have to leave and miss out on his high school experience.

My girls did the same and started college with about 19 credit hours. The extra credits really helped them to lighten their course load in college. The only negative we found was the girls had no "easy" classes as they took a lot of their gen eds. When you're an engineering major that's tough. I think it would've helped to have that one fluff class to get an easy A.

 

[QueenIsabella]

They have a few options along those lines here in NC--Early College HS is the official program, but any student can do dual enrollment. My DD14 didn't want to go the early College route--she's heard from participants that it's very rigorous, basically you have no life outside of school, and that wasn't for her. She takes several dance classes a week, plus is a serious cellist, and didn't want to give those things up. Instead, she's doing the IB program at our home HS--we have complete school choice here, she could have gone to any one of 8 HS's, but wanted this program. It's basically all honors/AP classes, with some special requirements, so she'll still be challenged. In future years, I'd like to see her do dual enrollment, maybe a course or two over the summer--for now, she's just entering freshman year, no need to rush.

 

[LadyD]

California, at least 12 years ago, does not have a statewide program. What you can do, at least in the district I was enrolled in, is get a waiver signed by your Vice Principal (and I think parent?) to enroll in community college courses. However, you still had to pay for these courses (and books) yourself.

I was fortunate to go to high schools that had a plethora of AP classes to choose from, so I only did a couple of classes at the local community college this way. I was able to take 9 AP courses in high school and a couple of IB courses so that when I entered college, everything combined, I had completed like 80 quarter credits worth of classes. I only elected to take credit for about 60 of them though because I was on the vet school track and didn't want to AP out of my science courses. It did allow me to skip all my lower level GE courses so I could focus on the upper division courses that were actually interesting to me. That being said, I still graduated college with something like 300 quarter units completed (180 were needed to graduate), so for those academically inclined in high school, it may not translate to shorter college experiences.

Which state?

For my daughter, escaping the social aspects of high school is a big part of joining PSEO. High School is a place for bullying and cliques - and she's had some really nasty stuff this past year. For some kids high school is great - for some kids high school is torture. My daughter is one for whom every teacher, counselor and administrator says "she needs out of here." She'll also be an eighteen year old Senior (she is a September birthday, so among the oldest in her class)

This right here. High school is a great environment for some people. For others, it is a holding pen you have to endure to start the next phase of your life. Having options to challenge yourself in a positive way is so important, and even AP courses don't always cut it.

 

[crisi]

There is a program in my area that turns high school into a five-year experience but kids graduate with both a high school diploma and an associates degree from the local CC. Our local district doesn't participate, though, so I'd have to do a school-of-choice transfer to get my kids into the program. I might look into it for DD9 if it seems like she'd be well-suited for it when the time comes. It wasn't a good fit for DS19 - he was one of those that needed out of the HS environment and into the "real" world to thrive - or for DD15, who has her sights set on selective schools that wouldn't take the transfer credits.

My daughter's target schools probably won't take the transfer credit either (her first choice will take one semester of AP/IB/college credit). But we really don't care, for us this is a chance to get her out of high school and give her a much wider variety of coursework to choose from, not a way to save money. However, for most Minnesotans who participate, this is a way to save money.

 

[Colleen27]

My daughter's target schools probably won't take the transfer credit either (her first choice will take one semester of AP/IB/college credit). But we really don't care, for us this is a chance to get her out of high school and give her a much wider variety of coursework to choose from, not a way to save money. However, for most Minnesotans who participate, this is a way to save money.

We sent DD15 to private school for similar reasons - wider variety of coursework, support for her academic interests, and an all around more positive environment. If we didn't have that option we'd probably have her dual-enrolled by now, but since the private school is blocks away while both the closest high school in the early college program and the community college where she could take courses directly are 20+ miles, tuition is money well spent.

 

[Lvsdisney]

The high school in my school district (in PA) has partnered with a great private college 15 minutes from us. I know HS school students (seniors, I think) can take courses that count towards both HS and Colleg credit at a reduced tution rate. Most recent example was $200 for a 3 credit course. This is a better rate than our community college.

I know my sister's district has a similar program with another local college.

 

[crisi]

We sent DD15 to private school for similar reasons - wider variety of coursework, support for her academic interests, and an all around more positive environment. If we didn't have that option we'd probably have her dual-enrolled by now, but since the private school is blocks away while both the closest high school in the early college program and the community college where she could take courses directly are 20+ miles, tuition is money well spent.

A good private school around here is $28k a year. Sometimes I think I should have bit the bullet and done it for her - but with two a year apart, $60k a year in tuition would have been tough.

 

[Colleen27]

A good private school around here is $28k a year. Sometimes I think I should have bit the bullet and done it for her - but with two a year apart, $60k a year in tuition would have been tough.

DD's school is $8250/year, and she has about $2500 in renewable academic and service scholarships plus a small need-based grant and a service-credit grant based on my volunteering at the school. Our bottom line varies some from year to year, but is usually in the neighborhood of $4500. The elem we send younger DD to is about half the HS price. There's no way we'd have gone the private school route with $28k tuition, especially not paying it for two kids at a time. I like vacationing - and eating! - too much for that! I'm stressing this year and next over paying tuition for all three kids - a first, since DS went to public schools - but one in CC, one in HS, and one in elem still don't add up to $28k/year.

 

[crisi]

DD's school is $8250/year, and she has about $2500 in renewable academic and service scholarships plus a small need-based grant and a service-credit grant based on my volunteering at the school. Our bottom line varies some from year to year, but is usually in the neighborhood of $4500. The elem we send younger DD to is about half the HS price. There's no way we'd have gone the private school route with $28k tuition, especially not paying it for two kids at a time. I like vacationing - and eating! - too much for that! I'm stressing this year and next over paying tuition for all three kids - a first, since DS went to public schools - but one in CC, one in HS, and one in elem still don't add up to $28k/year.

Yeah, we wouldn't get any scholarship money - and the parents I talk to tell me that their experience is that tuition is the start - the school expect you to also "donate" another $5k a year. The "cheap" Catholic school is $13k a year - and the academics are lousy.

 

[cvjw]

Georgia does. It is called dual enrollment and is paid for with a state grant called move on when ready. To qualify, you have to have a certain gpa (calculated by the state) and make a certain score on the sat or act.

My older son went to our local university full time for his senior year in high school. Took 8 classes and also passed 5 ap tests from his other years in high school. . He started at the university of Georgia half way thru his sophomore year.

This enabled him to graduate with a bachelors of accounting degree in 3 years without ever taking more than 4 classes a semester. He will earn his masters of taxation degree this year - 4 years for a bachelors and masters degree.

Younger son is doing dual enrollment full time right now for his senior year. It is such a great program. He will have 8 class credits to transfer to his real university next year.

In Georgia, all your credits and grades are transferable if you transfer to another Georgia university. If you transfer out of state, usually only the credits, not the grades transfer.

The state program pays for tuition, fees and books. All we had to pay for was $15 for parking for fall semester!

 

[wendow]

We homeschool. In Colorado, we have a program through our school district that will pay for up to 7 credits per semester that will count as dual credit. My oldest, who will be a senior this year, has been too sick to do much with it (though she will take 3 credits this fall and hopefully, 7 in the spring). I intend on my other kiddos maxing out the program benefits. We know a lot of kids who graduate high school and enter college as juniors due to this program

 

[tvguy]

They call it Dual Enrollment in California. It has been around for decades. It was free when I was in High School, but all Community College classes were free in California prior to the passage of Prop 13 in 1978.
Not sure if it is free anymore.
IMHO that is a great option for students, the tougher the classes that they take, the better. However, be prepared, depending on the College your child chooses after High School, the credits may not be accepted. Some colleges want you to take THEIR version of the class. But clearly if a student has already taken someone's version of a class, I would think they would be bound to do better in another college's version.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

I think when I was growing up in PA about 10 years ago we had some sort of agreement with the local community college- not a statewide program but it could have just been that I wasn't aware of it. It didn't offer much, though, and was about 45 minutes from my high school, so not many kids could take advantage of it since they couldn't get there. We didn't have a lot of AP classes, either, but my school was very small and poor. Now that I'm pregnant programs like this are at the top of my list when searching for a school district for my son- I don't want him to be saddled with the same debt my husband and I are.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

However, be prepared, depending on the College your child chooses after High School, the credits may not be accepted.

Very true. My husband had this happen to him- a couple classes "didn't transfer". Also, now that you mention the term dual enrollment, we might have had something like this in PA. Sounds familiar.