The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Educators discuss College Credit Plus program
In a two-part series, The News Herald explores the opportunities that are available for high school students to earn college credit.
Nov. 6: What is College Credit Plus? How common is it for students to take college classes? What are the benefits?
Nov. 7: How do high school counselors and college administrators determine if students are capable of handling the advance work? What are the concerns? How does the future look for this program?
Thousands of students across Northeast Ohio are earning college credits before graduating from high school.
One of the newer ways students are able to take collegelevel courses is through the College Credit Plus program. According to the Ohio Department of Higher Education, any Ohio
student in seventh through 12th grade can apply for College Credit Plus admission to any Ohio public or participating private college.
“College Credit Plus allows Ohio’s students to take rigorous college classes that challenge them while at the same time giving them a head start on their college careers,” said Ohio Department of Education Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria. “Ohio’s families worry every day about the costs of college, and this program provides them with opportunity and affordability, which is ultimately a win-win for everyone.”
CCP students from public or nonpublic high schools who attend a public college are not required to pay for college course tuition, instructional tools or supplies. The schools districts incur the cost, unless the student receives a failing grade at the end of the college course, or if the student withdraws from or drops the college course subsequent to the 14th calendar day after the particular course began.
However, Painesville Schools pays 100 percent of the CCP cost, even if students withdraw after deadline or fail the class, because it is an economically disadvantaged school district, said Heidi Fyffe, director of state and federal programs.
College Credit Plus is in its third year.
The first full year of data shows that nearly 15 percent of Ohio’s high school juniors and seniors took advantage of the program and more than 90 percent of those students received a passing grade required to earn college credit.
According to the news release, more than 52,000 Ohio high school students took college classes during the 2015-16 academic year, earning college credit while meeting their high school graduation requirements and collectively saving more than $110 million on college tuition.
Some students take these courses without even leaving their high schools.
Riverside Director of Guidance Scott Bailis said students can take six different CCP courses at the high school, including English Composition 1 and 2, Western Civilization 1 and 2, College Algebra and Trigonometry.
Sophomore Logan Bell is currently taking one of the CCP courses at Riverside.
He said that he signed up for the program because it was a great opportunity to take more rigorous courses.
Logan adds that there are also more courses to choose from in the CCP program, such as computer science and philosophy.
Bailis and Fyffe said that multiple students have earned associate’s degrees prior to graduating from high school.
Since the program is accepting even younger students, Bailis said it is possible to earn enough college credits for a bachelor’s degree.
“One hundred twenty hours is the maximum you can take over your lifetime through college credit plus,” he said. “You can pay for additional classes, but many students are not on track to do this.”
Bailis said Riverside has over 100 students in CCP.
“If the student is mature enough and prepared enough, this is a great way to catapult your way into college without incurring all the costs,” Fyffe said. Brooke Meznarich, who is a junior at Riverside, said CCP is a great opportunity to learn how to multi-task, communicate with instructors and manage self.
She is involved in extracurricular activities and said she wanted to take one class at this time to see what the workload would be like.
Although Brooke said she has a car, it is more convenient to stay at Riverside and avoid the commute.
On the other hand, some students elect to travel to the college where they have been admitted or enrolled in to take courses or take one or more online courses offered by that college.
“The College Credit Plus program continues to provide an opportunity for eligible students to get a head start on their college career,” said Jennifer Collis, assistant provost for educational programming at Lakeland Community College. “Lakeland currently serves 1,508 CCP students on campus and at 15 local high schools. CCP enrollment has increased by 2.4 percent as more families take advantage of the opportunity to save money on a college education. Most of the courses fulfill general education options for our four-year transfer partners or our associate of arts and associate of science degree requirements.”
Students may also attend private colleges, but may be charged by that college. Credits earned at private colleges are also evaluated on a case-by-case basis, whereas many entry-level courses earned at an Ohio public college are guaranteed to transfer to any other Ohio public college.