esides AP and other college-level classes you can take in high school, there are also state-sponsored programs that allow high school students to take actual college classes and “double dip” by getting high school credit for the college classes they take.
College-In-High-School Programs Versus AP Classes
To clarify the difference, while AP classes and College In the Schools-type classes are taught by your high school teachers at your high school, these college programs are taught by college professors on campus at colleges and universities.
In the shorter term, these types of programs are a great way to rack up those college credits while taking challenging and interesting classes. In the longer term, these programs will go a long way to help you graduate college without debt.
In Minnesota, this type of program is called Postsecondary Enrollment Options, or PSEO, which allows eligible students to get high school AND college credit by taking college classes at a community college or university. In this section I go into the details of Minnesota’s PSEO programs, but a quick google search of postsecondary enrollment options in your state will help you find the name and the requirements of the program where you live, since these types of programs vary state to state.
From the Minnesota PSEO program’s own website, “Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) is a program that allows… students in 10th, 11th and 12th grades to earn college credit while still in high school, through enrollment in and successful completion of college nonsectarian courses at eligible postsecondary institutions. Students generate both college credit and high school credit by successful completion of the course.”
What this means is, if you take an English composition class at a participating college, you will get credit on your college transcript, plus the class will count toward your high school English language requirements for graduation. Not bad, right?
It gets even better.
Because you’re still technically a high school student and secondary education is free, the state pays for your tuition AND books!
Guys… this is free college!
Through the PSEO program, I took college classes at both my local community college and at the University of Minnesota during my junior and senior years of high school and earned 72 college credits before I had even graduated from high school! I saved tens of thousands of dollars. It wasn’t just money I saved — I saved a lot of time, too! Because I had so many credits, I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in just 2.5 years.
The caveat here is that not everyone can participate in these kinds of programs. As with any rigorous academic program, there are high admission standards. To be eligible for the PSEO program, you have to be above a certain rank in your class or have high standardized test scores. This makes sense — college classes are challenging, and you’re stepping outside your comfort zone by driving to campus to take classes with college students who are older than you. Not every high school student is ready for the challenge. Taking college classes at a university while you’re still a high school student can be psychologically intimidating and academically challenging, so creators of these types of programs want to see an existing track record of academic success among participating students.
A few drawbacks to consider
While PSEO program is an excellent opportunity for the right student, it does have potential drawbacks that you should take into account before deciding whether this type of program is right for you.
Missing out on the social aspects of high school
First, because these programs require you to physically attend classes on college campus, you could miss out on the social aspect of high school. Luckily for me, most of my close friends at the time didn’t actually go to my high school. I wasn’t too worried about being unable to see close friends and opted to take a full-time load of college classes during my junior year.
But, after a year of commuting to the University of Minnesota campus, I realized that I did, in fact, really miss high school! I missed being around people who were my age. I missed the small class sizes and personalized attention (at the University of Minnesota my classes were often 100 students large). I missed how engaged and attentive my high school teachers were.
I decided to go back to the high school for my senior year. I signed up for only a couple in-person college classes, supplementing the rest of my schedule with a few online college classes that didn’t require me to commute, plus a couple College in the Schools classes offered at my high school. This was I still had a full-time load of college classes but could also spend a good chunk of my day taking classes at the high school. It was a good balance for me. I even made time for some extracurricular activities after school, like theater.
Text box: If you’re not sure about whether you’re ready to commit to full-time college classes, a part-time credit load that will still let you go to high school may be a good choice.
You’ll have to figure out transportation to/from the college on your own
Don’t underestimate your commute if you decide to try this type of program — it’s likely going to be significantly longer than the drive to your high school, and you won’t be allowed to live in the dorms. As a 16-year-old PSEO student, I lived at home with my parents, which meant I had to drive to the University of Minnesota every day. The commute took me 1 to 1.5 hours each way — I drove to a park-and-ride in the suburbs, then took an express bus to the campus in the city — which meant that I was spending 2 to 3 hours on the road every day. If traffic was bad because of the weather, the commute would take even longer.
Slowly but steadily, the commute wore me out. In fact, I hated the commute so much that the next school year, I took a couple college classes at a nearby community college rather than at the University of Minnesota exclusively because it brought down my commute time to 20 minutes each way.
If you do poorly in a college class, it will forever be recorded in your college transcript
This is something you should seriously consider. That C+ in your high school calculus class will only stay in your high school transcript, but if you take that calculus class at your local university, it will impact your college GPA forever.
The college credits you earn are not guaranteed to transfer
A lot of the time, the credits you earn at one college will transfer to another, but ultimately this will depend on the reciprocity agreements between the university that offers this program and the university you attend after high school. If you’re hoping to graduate college early, you’ll need to make sure that the college you choose to attend will accept your college credits. Of course, even if you’re unable to transfer your credits from one college to another, by participating in this program, you’re showing prospective colleges that you’re a strong candidate who can excel at rigorous coursework. Don’t underestimate this! Choosing to participate in a program like PSEO should never be just about the college credits — it’s a really unique, challenging and eye-opening experience that will challenge you academically and give you a glimpse into college life.
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