LEUSD High School Students Able To Earn College Credits At No Cost

Beginning with the fall 2011 semester, Lake Elsinore Unified School District high school students can earn college credits at no cost.

Mt. San Jacinto College is expanding its Dual Enrollment Program, which offers the AP Alternative Program through which high school students earn college and high school credit while meeting graduation requirements.

LEUSD students who enroll in the program take the college courses through their high schools. The classes are free, and the high schools provide the books. Students can graduate with college credits, preparing them for the next step of their education or careers. Many of the course credits are transferable to colleges and universities.

This fall, the college will offer Career and Technical Education programs as a second track. Three new areas of coursework will be offered: multimedia, child development and medical assisting.

 “Students entering their freshman year will be better prepared for the rigors of college coursework, and it’s cost effective,” said Tom Spillman, dean of counseling and student services at Mt. San Jacinto College. “Some students are knocking out a year of college before they even graduate high school.”

The college started the dual enrollment program in 2009. Courses offered vary from freshmen composition, critical thinking to mathematics. The college plans to expand academic courses into the social sciences, science and humanities.

The program expansion is in response to the national call to action issued by the Obama Administration to increase college graduation rates. To meet the goal, five million new college students must graduate nationwide by the year 2020.

Six out of the eight high school districts in Mt. San Jacinto College’s immediate area have signed on to participate in the program. Those districts are: Banning Unified School District, Beaumont Unified School District, Lake Elsinore Unified School District, Murrieta Valley Unified School District, San Jacinto Unified School District and Perris Unified School District.

For more information, visit www.desertcolleges.org.