Dual enrollment, for those who may not know, is where a teenager is enrolled in college courses before they finish high school. Generally, the high school pays for most, if not all of the tuition costs, and often pays for or assists with books and materials. It is similar to AP courses in that you earn college credit, but is different in the fact that, assuming you pass with the minimum grade the college requires, you earn the full number of credits every time and attend class at the college. (As I understand it, AP courses are taken at the HS and you earn a percentage of credits based on your final grade? So an A earns you 4 credits, a B 3, etc??)
So I transferred high schools in the summer between my 3rd and 4th year. I hesitate to use junior/senior because I was horribly behind in credits. I was maybe a credit past the junior cutoff. I left school district A and entered school district T, joining the alternative, accelerated credit school, better known in the district as the Reject School. The normal HS earned you 3 HS credits a semester, my school earned 4, but about half the student body was in some kind of legal trouble, e.g. parole and ankle monitors.
Anyway, in my entrance interview, the principal encouraged me to sign up for the dual enrollment program. I did the end of the year (2016-17 school year). I took a college prep class, applied, got my course approved (Composition 1), and started college the next fall (2017-18). It was incredibly easy, I was essentially walked through the process, and I received support throughout the entire adventure.
I graduated in June 2018 with 13 almost completely free college credits (I of course paid for basic supplies like paper and pencils, gas to get to the college, etc). I was invited back for an additional year, a technicality my school exploits where they hold one required credit, usually your senior math, to allow you to stay one year past graduation. With your consent, of course.
I will be starting my 15 free credits of college courses the end of August 2018. Additionally, you are only required to be present at the high school one hour a day for the 'College Seminar' class, assuming you have completed all high school requirements. If you have not, the counselor will calculate how many HS courses a semester you need to take to graduate on time, minimally. Most students remove 1 of the 4 class periods in exchange for a college course. Those with more credits remove 2.
In general, the process of applying and getting approved is very easy. If I continue my plan as is, I will complete 43 college credits for free, and complete the state college transfer agreement that allows me to skip the general education requirements of most 4 year universities.
I had many underclassmen friends at school district A. The last of them are entering their senior year at A. I was recently talking to one that explained the process she went through to apply and enter A's dual enrollment program.
At A, it is MUCH more difficult to enter the program: there are GPA requirements, interviews with several staff members, an actual application with required recommendation letters from teachers. She told me she has a 3.4 GPA and had to receive "a pardon" from the principal because the minimum GPA to enter the DE program is 3.5. (At the time I was encouraged to sign up at T, I had a 1.8 or 1.9, and the principal knew that.)
The program is also not guaranteed to pay for all of your tuition, let alone any fees, books, or materials. The tuition payment by the school is calculated as a 'need based scholarship'. District A doesn't care if your parents are in debt and bills up to their giblets, if your parents' paychecks say "well off," you receive near nothing from the school. The college A recommends has a $100 student support fee that allows them to run a free 6 day a week academic support lab. That $100 fee is on the student to pay. All books and required materials are on the student to purchase.
I suggested perhaps that because A is a bigger school (enrollment upwards of 2000), and T is significantly smaller (enrollment upwards of 150), the state grants and school budget don't allow for that much funding. Turns out, the last 6 semesters, dual enrollment participation has been at a whopping 4-7 students, each taking maximum 8 credits. Because the application process is so asinine and complicated, no one bothers to apply. T is already underfunded and is 100% funding approximately 30 students taking anywhere from 3-18 credits a semester at the same college.
On top of the ridiculous application process, the educational requirements are horribly high to be accepted into certain courses.
To take a college math course, you must either complete the highest offered level of high school calculus (before AP) or receive a fairly high SAT/ACT score in math. This immediately removes any ability for underclassmen to apply unless they are 3-4 years ahead in math. I entered freshman year a year ahead and wouldn't have finished Calculus until I graduated. The policy completely ignores the fact that the college requires you to take a placement exam to put you in the appropriate math level, and I paraphrase, "this policy is essential to guarantee that no student takes a mathematics course beyond his capabilities and causes damage to his college transcript and GPA."
Lastly, if there is an AP equivalent being offered at A at the time you wish to dual enroll, you are required to instead take the AP course.
The main upside of A's DE program is that you may earn high school credit for each college course. 1-4 credits receive 0.5 HS credits, 5-8 receive 1 HS credit. The dual credit is placed in the appropriate subject, e.g. Composition 1 would be an English credit, or if no appropriate subject is available, it is given as a general elective credit. The only credit you receive from T is a pass/fail 1 credit per semester, and the p/f is determined based on whether you 1) showed up to the HS 'college seminar', 2) did your weekly check-ins and grade updates with your advisor, 3) passed the college course.
One bigger downside to A is that the only approved courses are general education courses, such as math, English, social studies, etc. Trades, despite being offered at the same college and costing the same per credit hour, are not allowed. The only way a student may take trade courses is if they apply as a High School Guest, which the school is not required to pay for. Approved courses are applied to as High School Dual Enrollment.
A huge downside to A is that you are still required to take a class every period of the school day (7 periods, generally 6 classes due to the majority of students taking study hall). So you can only take afternoon, evening, and weekend classes. Every DE student at T is released after 3rd period (4 period school day).
Having come from district A and having dealt with the malarkey and bullshitting of the administration of A that lead to me transferring to T, I am almost certain that A started their dual enrollment program for bragging rights. The ability to hide the statistics of their participation and application requirements allows them to publicize the fact that they have a dual enrollment program with a very high average college GPA between the participants (I believe the last news article I read claimed an average 3.8 college GPA).
The mentality of T is significantly different. As long as you are working towards an end, on a specific degree path, the school doesn't care what you take. If you have no path, none of the available associates appeal to you, you take courses from the extensive list leading to the state transfer agreement, regardless of if you plan to continue college or not. Trade certificates are allowed. The number of students taking HVAC and mechanics courses at the college is nearly the same as those taking general education and associates bound courses. T sees post high school education as a means to get further in life, and has recently changed the particular high school's name to show that. My school changed from X Community to including "College and Career" in the name. (I'm trying really hard to conceal where I am, sorry)
And there's my 2am Monster fueled comparison. I'm curious if anyone else participated in their HS dual enrollment program and how difficult it was to get into. Is T shockingly lenient and generous? Am I way off base and A is actually par for the course? I'd love to hear thoughts, and will clarify and answer questions as they come up. However, for now, to bed I must go.
Submitted August 03, 2018 at 12:36AM by therealmegluvsu https://ift.tt/2LQuAwG
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