Imagine being able to get a head start on college, without having to go through the application process, pay for tuition, or room and board, all while shortening the actual amount of time you spend in college when you do get there. This is what Dual Enrollment Programs are, and they are definitely real. They allow high school students to enroll and attend college classes, while still in high school. Typically, the courses are taught at a local community college and allow high school students a head start to get freshman year classes out of the way, saving them considerable time and money.
You don’t have to stretch your imagination too far in order to find the value of this option. There are obvious benefits for participating in something like this. Let’s find out what they are, how to get access to the programs and how to maximize the opportunity, in the pursuit of minimizing the cost of paying college tuition.
Reduced College Tuition
When students enroll and complete courses in dual enrollment programs, they receive college credit. This college credit allows them to skip or bypass these courses when they actually get into college, thereby saving them tens of thousands of dollars. Dual enrollment courses are usually less than $500, while the same courses go for about $2000 in college – that’s a quarter of the college price and a substantial 75% in savings on college tuition.
Dual Enrollment vs Advanced Placement Credits
Dual Enrollment and AP credits are very similar, in that they both allow high school students to take college classes and award both high school and college credits upon successful completion. However, the most compelling difference between the two options is that for Advanced Placement classes, college credit is awarded when students pass the exam, while for Dual Enrollment classes, college credit is awarded when students pass the class.
Therefore, it is possible for a student to pass the AP class and fail the AP exam, thereby receiving high school credit for the class, but not college credit for the exam. However, in the case of the dual enrollment option, successfully passing the class would provide both high school and college credit – no exam needed!
How to gain access to Dual Enrollment programs
Students interested in participating in Dual Enrollment programs should broach the subject with their high school guidance counselors. A candid conversation about current grades, additional workload and impact on extracurricular activities would clarify a students interest in the program and ability to successfully complete it. It would also help to reach out to the local university or community college where the dual enrollment programs are offered, to find out more details about the program and how plausible it is to enroll.
Before registering for a dual enrollment course, it’s also best to check and make sure that the college credit you are signing up for is accepted at the college(s) of your choice. While AP courses are more universally accepted, Dual Enrollment credits can be rejected depending on which college you’re applying to and where you took the Dual Enrollment course.