Dual Enrollment or Young College?

[Wheres Toto]

Is it better to dual enroll as a high school student or the graduate young and go to college if:

 

-the cost is the same for both options

-student will live at home and go to community college in both cases

-DE requires in-person registration so some classes may close out before they can enroll

-DE doesn't seem to offer credit but if the student enrolls at this CC after HS graduation, classes will be evaluated and possibly applied toward an associates degree. 

 

I'm not sure what other things should be considered but the DE option doesn't seem to be advantageous in this case?

 

If you decide to graduate a child early and let them take college classes, how do you do transcripts to show 4 years of high school?  Especially if this decision came later.

[regentrude]

What does it mean "DE does not offer credit"? Either it is a college class and credit is earned, or it is not a college class. I would not buy into a deal of "will be evaluated later".

 

ETA: My DD graduated early and also took college classes while in high school. I documented the last four years of school on her hs transcript. I would not graduate a student who had not fulfilled my graduation requirements.

Edited August 24, 2017 by regentrude

[Wheres Toto]

What does it mean "DE does not offer credit"? Either it is a college class and credit is earned, or it is not a college class. I would not buy into a deal of "will be evaluated later".

 

ETA: My DD graduated early and also took college classes while in high school. I documented the last four years of school on her hs transcript. I would not graduate a student who had not fulfilled my graduation requirements.

 

The brochure and application for the program describe it as "provides high school students the opportunity to enrich their education through college-level coursework at xxx" and the only mention of credit says "students who are interested in attending xx after graduating from high school are required to complete and submit the standard paper Admissions Application without an application fee to the Admissions office. Previously completed courses will be considered for associate degree requirements."

 

It sounds like it's just a way to do college level work while still in high school and doesn't count as college credit.   They used to offer a lot more for younger students but seem to have done away with a lot of the programs.

 

It looks like every CC in the state does a different program for high school students.  This is the closest to me.  The next closest seems to only offer classes at certain high schools within that county.  

[elegantlion]

 

 

If you decide to graduate a child early and let them take college classes, how do you do transcripts to show 4 years of high school?  Especially if this decision came later.

 

I graduated ds a year early, which was a decision made later. I evaluated what had been his 8th grade classes and felt all but one would qualify as high school level. I left that one off the transcript, which I arranged by subject. He was not applying to competitive schools, so there were not a bunch of specific hoops to jumps through. 

 

We opted to graduate versus dual-enroll because we qualified for needs based aid, which he received as a high school graduate. He would not have received it as a dual-enrolled student. 

 

For him, it has worked out well. Ds was an average high school student who has been able to find his niche in college. If he had wanted to apply to more competitive schools, we probably would have tried dual-enrollment instead. 

[Wheres Toto]

Spending more time with Google, it looks like a few universities in our area (including the one oldest dd attended and where ds took his G/T courses) offers Early Enrollment options for high school students.  More expensive than the CC, but not as much as you would think and they they DO offer credit for all courses taken.

 

So many options, so confusing.  I don't want to screw up ds's choices by not preparing.

[Bootsie]

The brochure and application for the program describe it as "provides high school students the opportunity to enrich their education through college-level coursework at xxx" and the only mention of credit says "students who are interested in attending xx after graduating from high school are required to complete and submit the standard paper Admissions Application without an application fee to the Admissions office. Previously completed courses will be considered for associate degree requirements."

 

It sounds like it's just a way to do college level work while still in high school and doesn't count as college credit.   They used to offer a lot more for younger students but seem to have done away with a lot of the programs.

 

It looks like every CC in the state does a different program for high school students.  This is the closest to me.  The next closest seems to only offer classes at certain high schools within that county.  

I would not interpret this as college credit is not earned.  I would interpret this as the student who enrolls in DE courses must still apply for admissions to continue at the community college after high school graduation and that the credits earned will be considered toward specific degree requirements.  I would assume that a community college transcript would still be produced and that those credits would perhaps transfer to other schools (depending on the policies of those schools).

 

Some things to consider are:

 

1) Whether the student will want to apply as a transfer student or as a freshman at a university in a couple of years

2)  Whether there would be limitations on activities the student could participate in while dual enrolled (not fully participating in campus clubs, etc.) if that is important

3)  Whether there are any advantages in your area of being a high school graduate (in my area curfew laws apply even to those who are over 18 if they have not finished high school)

4)  Are there any additional fees, besides tuition, that would be impacted by the decision

5)  would the student meet admission standards as a full-time student

6)  Are you ready to turn the student's education over to the community college?  If you graduate the student and then the student decides not to take classes or to drop classes you have less control/authority in the situation.

[Wheres Toto]

I would not interpret this as college credit is not earned.  I would interpret this as the student who enrolls in DE courses must still apply for admissions to continue at the community college after high school graduation and that the credits earned will be considered toward specific degree requirements.  I would assume that a community college transcript would still be produced and that those credits would perhaps transfer to other schools (depending on the policies of those schools).

 

Some things to consider are:

 

1) Whether the student will want to apply as a transfer student or as a freshman at a university in a couple of years

2)  Whether there would be limitations on activities the student could participate in while dual enrolled (not fully participating in campus clubs, etc.) if that is important

3)  Whether there are any advantages in your area of being a high school graduate (in my area curfew laws apply even to those who are over 18 if they have not finished high school)

4)  Are there any additional fees, besides tuition, that would be impacted by the decision

5)  would the student meet admission standards as a full-time student

6)  Are you ready to turn the student's education over to the community college?  If you graduate the student and then the student decides not to take classes or to drop classes you have less control/authority in the situation.

 

Thank you, this is helpful information to consider.

[catz]

In our state, it definitely benefits to dual enroll

• Dual enrollment is FREE (books and tuition) for qualified juniors and seniors
• Dual enrolled students that apply to 4 year colleges, apply as freshman and qualify for scholarships and financial aid as a freshman
• Dual enrolled credits are evaluated by individual colleges.  So getting credit just depends on the classes, the transferring institution, and what the degree being sought is.  Colleges don't care if they were credits on your high school.  They would transfer them the same for someone graduating, earning credits at one institution, and transferring to another
• If a kid is interested in applying to more competitive 4 year programs, this is a good opportunity to really build a nice high school transcript.  My kid started high school level work very early.  But his final transcript is going to look more rigorous with a bunch of college level work on that rather than mommy grades.  If you are doing CC into a state college where this is a well oiled transfer machine, that doesn't really matter.

[Lori D.]

ETA:

jdahlquist's list of questions is spot-on for thinking through whether to do DE or graduate early. :)

 

I'd just add that if scholarships and merit aid are gong to be a high priority need, then NOT graduating early and accumulating a super-strong transcript with college-level courses, as well as an extra year to mature to nail very high PSAT and SAT/ACT test scores would be very helpful for landing large financial aid awards. :)

 

Additionally, if the future university accepts the DE as transfer credits, that can also benefit the student by reducing costs by reducing amount of time needed to earn the degree -- or, it can free up time for the student to do an honors program (which can increase merit aid), or do a double major, or be more eligible for special research projects or internships in their degree program.

____________________________

 

 

Dual enrollment is not always the same thing as dual credit. There are some programs offered by community colleges that are high school courses, or advanced high school courses, in which the student is enrolled both at their high school AND at the community college in order to take the courses, but the courses are only of high school level, NOT college level, so credit will only be awarded on the high school transcript through the community college. These classes may be held either on the community college campus, or, on a high school campus, and are overseen by community college instructors teaching high school material.

 

Check the college's course numbers on the classes -- classes with a numbering below 100 are NOT college level, but either high school or remedial (for college students). For example: "097 Intermediate Algebra" or "096 English Composition Fundamentals". If the course numbers are above 100, then it is up to each individual university as to whether or not they will accept the college course for credit towards their degree program, or just accept as an "elective".

 

Really, it comes down to what YOUR goals are. If you are wanting dual enrollment that is also dual credit in order to knock out some college credits for the college degree in advance of high school graduation in order to reduce cost and/or time spent on earning the 4-year degree, then you absolutely want to double check that the courses WILL transfer to the desired 4-year university as credits that count towards the degree.

 

AP tests or CLEP tests can also accomplish this goal for you, earning college credit by exam. Check with the 4-year university to see which tests are accepted for credit, what scores are needed, and what the limit is (if any) on how many credits will transfer from dual enrollment/dual credit and credit by exam.

 

 

If the goal is to have the student "dip a toe" in the waters of classrooms and accountability to an outside instructor prior to graduation, then that could be done through courses at a community college (whether it grants college credit or not), or through other local school, or through online courses.

 

Personally, if the community college dual enrollment program is just glorified high school, then I would skip it. There is a good chance that it will not provide you with the benefits you would want, and will likely lock you into a more traditional public high school experience and academic materials than the flexibility of homeschooling and selecting "true" dual enrollment/dual credit coursework would. JMO! :)

 

 

As far as showing 4 years of high school on a transcript:

 

You don't necessarily have to show 4 years (as some students attend public high school for 3 years and graduate), but rather you need a certain amount of credits in the subject areas that a university wants to see to meet the college's admission requirements. That usually looks something like this (with 1 credit = 1 year of high school level work, or, in many cases 1 semester of college level work):

 

4 credits = English

4 credits = Math (Alg. 1, Geometry, Alg. 2, a 4th math requiring Alg. 2 as a prerequisite)

3-4 credits = Science, with labs (some colleges want Biology and Chemistry)

2-4 credits = Foreign Language (same language)

2-4 credits = Social Studies (many colleges want 1 credit = American History; some colleges also want either 1 year World Geography or World History, or 0.5 credit each Econ & Gov't)

1 credit = Fine Arts

4-8+ credits = Electives

22-28+ credits = total

 

 

If your student is taking high school level courses in 8th grade (say, Algebra 1, Biology, and foreign language), then keep good records and count those on the high school transcript as high school credits. If your student takes dual enrollment, or outsourced classes, add those to your transcript with a notation of who the course provider was. If the student is officially enrolled/registered with a high school, community college, or university, then you will need to have the school provide an official transcript when the student applies for college, which will also show the courses taken with that institution.

 

Each university decides for itself what courses (as long as they are numbered 100 or above) that it will accept as transfer credits from another university or a community college. That is NOT a decision that you make on the transcript. Your transcript just shows what high school and college level courses the student took prior to high school graduation, and how much credit you awarded for each course, and what grade the student earned for each course.

 

 

Once you officially graduate your student from high school, you do NOT add any more credits from a community college or university onto the transcript, as that is NOT high school student dual enrollment, but is full college student work.

 

What you CAN do is, during your student's high school years, decide that your student is done with home-based courses, and have your student do all dual-enrollment courses while still under your homeschool high school administration. You place all of those courses on the high school transcript, and then officially graduate the student at the end of that year. (Or, two years -- I know families who have students do all DE for all of 11th and 12th grades.)

 

I know 2 families who had 16yo students who did 2 years of homeschool high school (so, 9th and 10th grades), and then the following year the students did all DE courses (so, 11th grade), and then the families graduated the students at the end of 3 years of official high school (with 2 years done as homeschooling, and 1 year done as full-time DE), and awarded the high school diploma. All of the courses from all 3 years were put on the transcript, and when applying to 4-year universities, the students provided official transcripts from both homeschool and the community college with their application. 

 

 

Does that help? :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Lori D.

[Homeschoolmom3]

Always appreciate LoriD's comments and she is right! 

 

I could have graduated my oldest two years early but didn't want to do that because then he couldn't compete with the National Merit or any other good scholarships.  He still took college courses (dual enrolled which means he took college classes while he was still in high school) you just would not be labeled as a full time student.  My son will have just under 60 credits when he graduates high school and he gets to compete for all of the scholarships.  HTH  :)