Concurrent Enrollment

The US Department of Education recently approved $20 million to help high school students who are eligible to receive Pell grants to take concurrent enrollment classes.  A concurrent enrollment class allows for juniors and seniors to enroll in college classes and attend their higher education classes in their high school over an Interactive Video Conferencing (IVC).  When students receive credit from a college, the credit is then transferred to the student’s high school transcripts.  Currently more than 36% of juniors and seniors or 27,000 students in the State of Utah participate in concurrent enrollment.  The state appropriates approximately $9.2 million in funding to offset the cost for high school students to enroll and participate in concurrent enrollment.  Typically, a high school is assessed $5.00 per credit fee which is a savings of $760 per credit at the University of Utah.  Most students save between $1,300 and $13,500 over the student’s high school career.  For more information on the savings and advantages of concurrent enrollment, please select the following link http://higheredutah.org/students-saving-big-on-college-costs-concurrent-enrollment/.

If the state is selected by the federal government to participate in the new program to allow high school students to use the Pell grant system, student may be eligible in the 2016-2017 school year to access the funding.  If Utah is selected to participate in this new program, students may be able to use the funding to pay for the class fees and even purchase the college textbooks needed in the classroom.

In Garfield County School District, students are on track to earn more than 500 college credits through concurrent enrollment during the 2015-2016 school year.  It is also important to note, sophomores are eligible to enroll in concurrent enrollment during the summer, if they have a high enough GPA and would like to participate in the courses. If students are interested in enrolling in concurrent enrollment classes, they need to meet with their high school counselor or visit with their high school principal.  If I can answer any question or be of any assistance, please contact me at the district office.

Ben Dalton

Superintendent

Garfield County School District

Leave a Reply