High school programming options have changed dramatically in recent decades and it can be difficult to navigate the many choices available to students to achieve future career success. One of those options is Dual Enrollment Program, designed for students pursuing a college preparatory course of study in high school. The program allows eligible students to enroll in online or in-person college courses while still in high school. Credits for the courses satisfactorily completed apply toward both the high school diploma and toward an associate or baccalaureate degree.
Dual enrollment has three options:
Traditional Dual Enrollment allows students to take a maximum of 10 Dual Enrollment credits in the fall, spring and summer terms, either online or in-person.
Concurrent Enrollment are college-level courses taught by credentialed high school teachers at various high school sites. Concurrent enrollment courses vary by high school so check with the school your student is attending to learn more about which college classes are offered.
Early Admission is a form of Dual Enrollment which allows eligible high school students to enroll as a full-time college students during their senior year. Credits earned count towards high school and college c redit requirements. Early admission students are disqualified from being named Valedictorian or Salutatorian.
Students must meet eligibility criteria to participate in the program. To qualify students need a minimum 3.0 unweighted grade point average, pass the Postsecondary Educational Readiness Test (PERT) or have appropriate scores on the ACT or SAT and have permission from the parent/guardian and high school principal and/or school counselor.
One benefit of the program is that it’s completely free; students don’t pay for tuition, textbooks or any applicable lab fees. Other rewards include being able to earn a college degree sooner, getting exposure to a broader array of classes and potential careers sooner, reducing college pressure with a lighter academic workload later and entering the workforce earlier.
More than 18,000 courses were taken by students in Hillsborough County Public Schools during last school year’s fall and spring semesters, equating to a cost savings to families of $5.6 million in tuition costs.
“Dual enrollment is a great opportunity for students to get a jump start on college and do it in a no-cost way,” said Executive Director, Instructional Support for Hillsborough County Public Schools Jazheel Lenegar-Brown. “For students who have a good plan for what they want to do in the future, it’s a no brainer because it provides them a cost savings for the future.”
For recent Strawberry Crest High graduate Addison Raburn, who started taking college classes her freshman year of high school, the program gave her a head start on her undergraduate degree.
“I have an older brother who dual-enrolled and he and my mom both encouraged me to take dual enrollment classes,” she said. “I’m glad I did it because I’m starting college with so many credits.”
Raburn, who is attending the University of South Florida, said the Hillsborough Community College (HCC) classes she took online helped prepare her for many facets of life. A speech class helped her excel as a contestant in last year’s Florida Strawberry Festival Queens Pageant. A College Algebra class, not her favorite subject, helped her earn a required math credit in high school and college.
For Raburn, dual enrollment classes prepared her for the rigor of college-level coursework and the teachers were available to offer assistance. “The professors were so nice and always willing to work with you and answer questions,” she said.
Students must maintain a high school GPA of 3.0 to continue in the program. The grades earned in these classes will also forever be a part of the student’s college transcript so it’s important to take the courses seriously.
For more information about the program call HCC’s Dual Enrollment and Early Admission department at (813) 253-7976.