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Vol. 51, No. 13
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
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Dual credit courses allow high school students to earn college credits. WCHS has partnerships in place with Indiana UniverEven while still attending high school, a sity-South Bend, Ivy Tech, Grace College, student can earn enough college credits to Huntington University, Vincennes Univertake care of a full year or more of college. sity and Purdue-Fort Wayne. “We have had kids leave with 30 or more college credits,” Davis said. “They can graduate a year early (from college).” Some dual credit courses do have a fee, but many do not and “it is quite a cost savings,” she said. Not every student who takes dual credit courses is interested in attending a traditional university or college. Some are more interested in vocational type training and career skills because “they are looking to enter the workforce” after high school, Davis noted. For example, a student can earn 15 dual credits in welding and precision machine courses during a two-year period. She noted the Warsaw Area Career 63((&+ &/$66 ³ 6KRZQ DUH 5HEHFFD -RKQVWRQ OHIW GXDO FUHGLW Center has the most dual credit courses VSHHFK WHDFKHU DQG *UDFH /XFH VWXGHQW GXULQJ VSHHFK FODVV DW :DUVDZ at Warsaw by far. &RPPXQLW\ +LJK 6FKRRO 3KRWR SURYLGHG E\ :DUVDZ &RPPXQLW\ 6FKRROV “Every pathway has a dual credit attached to it,” she said. If a student progresses far enough, And with the high cost of tuition, it is clearthey can actually attend classes at the Ivy ly a motivating factor for students interested in college to take dual credit courses Tech campus for another example. “It’s a good bridge between high school and colwhile still in high school. Warsaw Community High School offers lege,” Davis said. Especially the last few years, there has 102 different dual credit courses covering a wide range of courses, said Luisa Davis, been a significant push in Indiana to move co-director of counseling for WCHS along students into more pathway options and with Sarah Graham. “We added a lot more give them multiple graduation options. “The state moving this way has allowed us for freshmen this year,” Davis said.
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to offer more dual credit classes,” she
said. Davis and Graham both cautioned students need to find out how the college credits they earn in high school will transfer to college. Depending on the university, many of the credits may only transfer to elective credit and the student will have to take the same courses again in college. Dual credit courses are taught by teachers who have specific credentials and who have college graduate school credits in a particular field to be able to teach that subject. AP Classes There are 19 total AP courses offered at WCHS. Even freshmen take AP classes, such as a history class that satisfies the graduation requirement. AP classes are offered in every department except theater and examples include studio art, English (junior and senior levels), calculus, statistics, French and Spanish. There are three different AP Physics courses, Graham noted. “They like the rigor of it,” Graham said, commenting on why students choose to take AP courses. “It is at more of a college level; it is like more of a college prep course.” If a student earns a score of 3 to 5 on an AP course exam, some schools will allow that to transfer in as a college credit. Most students who take AP courses are college bound, Graham said. AP courses have been offered for at least 15 to 20 years and some have been added through the years. “They can all play into what you need for graduation,” she said. To be able to teach an AP course a teacher must go through college board training that is driven by a syllabus, Graham noted.