Many students at Pennridge are not aware of the opportunity of taking credits at Bucks County community college. Dual enrollment is a partnership between “school districts and institutions of higher education that allow high school students to enroll in college courses and earn transferable college credits” (edtrust.org).   Every senior should take classes at their local community college to gain higher skill levels in their primary subjects.

College credits can be rigorous and come with a heavy workload. Dual classes should be taken by students that can handle classes that will push them to excel. When applying to do dual credits you are limited to what courses will be approved by your high school. High schools tend to make students take classes that are transferable, like English Comp 110. 88 percent of all high schools in America offer concurrent Enrollment. Though dual courses can be overwhelming it is an exceptional way to start in the college process, Mackenzie Koch a current Dual enrollment student at Pennridge and Bucks Community College states she took these classes “to get a head start on college Gen Ed classes and also to get an early start on my major.”

It can be challenging for some to go from high school-level courses to college-level courses, but it is a good way to ease into college. Taking double-credit courses helps students to build confidence in taking laborious courses with higher expectations. Lauren Friend, a current student at Georgia Highlands College, feels “high school classes can only teach you so much and can’t really get you prepared for the change in workload college brings along with it”. Dual enrollment also allows students to have fewer classes in high school which allows them to have more of an open schedule for working. Taking these courses looks good when applying to colleges because it shows that you have taken college classes and are prepared.

Many students are not aware that they can take transferable courses. The school should set up a mandatory assembly to make students aware of what Dual Enrollment is and what the benefits are. This opportunity is great for students who want to push themselves to take challenging courses.

https://edtrust.org/issue/dual-enrollment/