At any point in a student’s high school career, they have the opportunity to enroll into college courses through the high school. At South High, there are three different types of college courses students can take. The three included are dual, blended and concurrent credits.
Dual credits are offered as credit at both the high school and the college level. Courses such as Public Speaking and Welding are examples of a dual credit. Blended credits are taught at the high school, but the teachers are only facilitating the course, and there is a professor from the college providing the course material and grading. English Composition 1 + 2 and General Psychology are two of many blended courses offered. Lastly, concurrent credits are the most common at South High. They are courses that are taught at the high school by a teacher at South High. Students then can enroll through colleges and earn the credit through there. Accounting and Algebra 2 Trigonometry are courses with concurrent enrollment. Additionally, a student may earn college credit by completing an AP course, but it depends on the class.
South High offers over 100 different courses in between all these three types, and students are encouraged to take advantage of them. Different courses may cost money, and it is on the student to make payments in order to gain their credits. Although, there are a handful of classes offered that are free that will give students the opportunity to have some credits.
The monetary differences between taking a specific course during high school and in college is drastic.
“Let’s use K-State as an example. Traditionally, a class taken by a freshman is going to be (roughly) between $700 and $800 a class. Whereas, in high school, the per credit cost is about $110 to $220, so we are talking about $350 per class.” said counselor Jim Allen.
If you have any questions about college credits, you can reference the USD305 Enrollment Guide on pages 17-21; or you can contact your counselor.
