In Kentucky, thousands of high school students are getting a jump start on their college educations by taking dual credit college courses at their schools. Three dozen Kentucky colleges and universities help those students by offering those courses in a variety of settings.
According to a September 2020 report from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), more than 40,000 high school students took advantage of dual credit offerings from a higher education institution during the 2019-2020 academic year. That’s a 75 percent jump from the fall of 2016, when two Kentucky initiatives were launched to make dual credit studies more affordable and accessible to all Kentucky students.
The first came from CPE, which called for high school students to have access to at least three general education and three career/technical dual credit courses. The second initiative provided a scholarship program from Kentucky Lottery proceeds that allows juniors and seniors the chance to earn credit for two college courses free of charge.
To date, 36 colleges and universities across the Commonwealth have teamed up with high schools to give those students a boost to their postsecondary educations. We talked with several to highlight how they are educating Kentucky’s future.
Thomas More University, Crestview Hills
Once known as the Gemini Program, the Dual Credit Program at Thomas More University has provided a higher education boost to hundreds of northern Kentucky high school students for several years.
Leann Morgan, Thomas More’s senior enrollment counselor, said the institution typically sees 400-600 students sign up annually.
“Most students that take it through Thomas More are actually at their high school, and their teachers are certified through us to teach our classes,” Morgan said. “Some students actually run out of classes to take in high school, as crazy as that sounds. They are pretty advanced and take all those upper-level classes early on, so they run out of classes. At that point, why not go ahead and start getting the college credit at a much cheaper rate?”
That rate, agreed upon by all the participating colleges and universities, is $72 per credit hour, a significant savings considering colleges charge hundreds—even thousands—more for undergraduate credit hours.
“At Thomas More, they get their student ID card, and they get access to the [recreation] center, all sporting events, printing, the book program [and peer tutoring],” she said. “They have access to all of that with no extra cost.”
Aside from the perks, dual credit offerings enable the students to knock out a few general education requirements before they even set foot on a college campus. Morgan said Thomas More’s offerings include introduction to business, introduction to political science, calculus, English, philosophy and more—a wide sample for those students who are still deciding on their career path.
“Some of them will take classes just trying to figure out if that’s what they really want to major in when they do go to college,” she said.
More information about Thomas More University’s Dual Credit Program can be found at thomasmore.edu/admissions/dual-credit-program.
Murray State University, Murray
Nearly 150 high schools have taken advantage of Murray State University’s dual credit initiative since 2012. Now named Racer Academy Pathways to Success, the program was streamlined into seven academic tracks by the western Kentucky institution over the past year.
“This newly revised program of dual credit courses … will assist our high school students in getting a head start on their collegiate experience while continuing to offer high-quality and valued academic programming,” said Dr. Tim Todd, Murray’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “We believe this streamlined version leading to specific academic and, in fact, career pathways will serve Kentucky students and families extremely well.”
Each pathway offers a set of five courses in seven areas, including nursing and health; science, engineering and technology; business/entrepreneurial; education and human services; humanities and fine arts; agriculture, and even university studies/undeclared for those high school students who haven’t yet made up their minds.
“Enrolling in Racer Academy allows students to take courses in a subject area that interests them,” said Lisa Schmidt, a Racer Academy coordinator. “As they work one-on-one with a faculty member from the university, they will be discovering possible career paths and the majors that are available to them as they decide on their future.”
Schmidt said students get more out of Racer Academy than just advanced academics. “In addition to the tangible benefits of dual credit, taking college courses in high school can give students a taste of college and also boost their confidence,” she said. “We have found that high school students who do not have a parent who graduated from college are hesitant and sometimes fearful of college. As they work through their college courses with the support of their high school and Murray State faculty, they learn that they are able to and ready to attend college.”
More information about Murray State University’s Racer Academy can be found at murraystate.edu/students/undergraduate/gettingstarted/raceracademy.
Lexington
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky’s dual credit program, dubbed Next Generation Scholars, launched just two years ago.
Lu Young, the executive director of the UK Center for Next Generation Leadership, said UK’s model differs from many other dual credit programs in that they offer “partnerships” to only a handful of high schools that want to work closely with the university.
“In a lot of cases, dual credit is taught by the high school teacher, and those scores are just submitted to the university. But in our case, our faculty are very hands-on and involved in the process,” Young said. “Our [program] is all synchronous online, so we actually build a master schedule, and then the high schools fit our blocks into their schedule. All of our courses are taught by UK instructors with a partner high school teacher. It’s very much a partnership between the high school teacher and the university faculty member.”
Young said their dual credit courses are part of the UK core requirements—general education classes covering subjects such as algebra, composition/communication and history.
Since these classes are taught online at a fraction of the cost of normal college tuition, Young said they have the added benefit of reaching rural and lower-income high school students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to attend college.
“We’re able to serve students in the most rural of areas, the most remote of areas,” Young said. “[We can] serve them in a 21st century kind of way with our outstanding UK faculty … really supporting those candidates while in high school to encourage them to think about UK and their future.”
To learn more about UK’s Next Generation Scholars program, visit uky.edu/sal/dual-credit.