Congratulations! 18 High Schoolers Earn Their College Degrees Before Graduating From HCPSS

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Eighteen current high school students will earn their college degrees before graduating high school as part of the JumpStart dual enrollment program, which is a partnership between the Howard County Public School System and Howard Community College.

Since the program’s inception during the 2018-2019 school year, participation has increased 42 percent and currently consists of more than 1,000 students. Although thousands of Howard County students are earning college credits before graduating high school, only a small percentage leave high school with their associate degree.

“I am incredibly proud of the students who have earned this tremendous feat and are highly prepared for whatever lies ahead,” HCPSS Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano said. “The collaboration with Howard Community College and the work of our staff to increase access for our middle and high school students to take advantage of dual enrollment opportunities has been tremendous.”

The various JumpStart dual enrollment offerings are designed to give students access to college courses at HCC or at their high school at a significantly reduced rate and prepare them for a career by earning industry certifications or for further higher education Students who receive their associate degree are able to transfer those credits to another higher education institution to complete a bachelor’s degree.

The list of HCPSS students earning an associate degree are:

• Glenelg High School
• David Abili
• Howard High School
• Diya Jindal
• Marriotts Ridge High School
• Megan DeGraw
• Oakland Mills High School
• Brian Kamanda
• Anais Seldon
• Melanie Tapia
• Sarah Pettit
• River Hill High School
• Samuel Rennich
• Austin Elkis
• Elena Bishop
• Eli Tapia
• William Hill
• Sebastian Romero
• Suki Zheng
• Kevin Herrera
• Brandon Tookes
• Wilde Lake High School
• Davina Bonsu
• Cecelia Ampomaa