Dual enrollment shaves costs
Staff writer
With the cost of college increasing, Marion High School is urging its students to take dual-enrollment classes while in high school.
Students can save about $30,000 off their college cost over the first two years, counselor Max Venable said.
It is not uncommon for a graduate to start college with more than 30 credit hours through dual enrollment.
“We have kids that graduate with 50 college credit hours,” Venable said.
Juniors often take 6 to 12 dual credit hours , and seniors often take 12 to 15, he said.
The high school has three teachers who can teach college courses. Those include college calculus and algebra, composition 1 and 2 and business.
Under Senate Bill 155, dual-credit tuition is waived for composition 1, college algebra, public speaking and psychology.
“This saves them a couple hundred dollars, which is real nice,” he said.
One MHS student took a health course to be a certified nurse assistant for $49. Taking the class outside of the school would cost close to $700, Venable said.
Dual enrollment is popular because not many part-time jobs are available.
MHS tries to have students take classes related to what they want to pursue in college.
A student interested in mass communication took a mass communication course while in high school, Venable said, so he would not have to take the class while a college student.
“Some of our kids are transferring credits,” he said. “Costs are becoming more problematic. They can shave off a year of college.”
It costs $12,000 to $14,000 a year to attend a state college or university, he said.
Scholarships help some students if they qualify, but no qualification is needed to take dual-credit courses.