By Marilynn Fryer
High school students thinking about college don’t have to wait to get started. With dual enrollment, motivated, collegebound students can earn college credits while still in high school, for free!
Dual enrollment means students may be enrolled in both high school and college. According to Michigan law they may take courses freshman, sophomore, junior or senior years, accumulating credits for their college program and perhaps taking classes unavailable to them at their high school. “If you have time in your schedule, dual enroll. You may get developmental classes out of the way, or get a head start on your degree,” said JC graduate Stephanie Layton. “Dual
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Fall 2013 • Career Choices • 517.796.8416
enrollment is a wonderful program and should be taken full advantage of.” To get started students should speak to their parents and the JC dual enrollment coordinator, who can help determine whether the student qualifies. Students need to pass the Michigan Merit Exam (MME) or an alternative (PSAT, ACT, PLAN) to qualify. Public, home school and private/parochial school students may participate in dual enrollment. Students and their parents/ guardians should meet with JC’s dual enrollment coordinator to discuss enrollment plans. For public or private/parochial school students, usually the high school/home district pays. The college will send a bill for
tuition and fees to the local district, or to the state Department of Treasury for qualifying non-public or home school students. Again, meet with the JC dual enrollment coordinator to decide on courses and know how much the school district will pay. All school districts, even if they do not pay, must sign off on a high school student enrolling in college courses. Find out more at the JC web site, or speak with your local high school principal or counselor. “It (dual enrollment) helped me a lot,” said Annie Warbritton, graduating senior at Grass Lake High School. She enrolled in a psychology course, Introduction to Counseling. She plans to go into speech pathology and thought the course would help her in working with people. “It gives you an experience of college. Definitely do it.”