Sydney Denekamp | Staff Intern
Both West Central and Tri-Valley High Schools offer dual credit courses for high school students, giving them the chance to earn college credit at a significantly cheaper rate.
At both West Central and Tri-Valley, dual credit courses are online college courses. Courses are taught by college instructors through the student’s chosen university or tech school. Students are expected to complete the courses independently at any time.
“[The courses] are challenging, but they are not impossible to pass. All you have to do is put in the time and effort, and you will pass. I would recommend them because it’s a great way to get a start on college and save money,” said Tri-Valley student Grace Schildhauer.
Dual Credit courses offered at West Central include any online course that has been pre-approved by the South Department of Education for Dual-Credit. Students can choose from a variety of courses ranging from general education courses to specialized courses. Students can also choose which university they take the course through.
At Tri-Valley dual credit courses are offered through the South Dakota Board of Regents for Dual Credit. Students are treated as college students in the dual credit courses meaning Tri-Valley is not involved in the teaching of their dual credit class.
To be eligible for dual credit courses students usually need to be a junior or senior in high school. Juniors at both Tri-Valley and West Central must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher or an ACT score of 24. Seniors at both schools must have a GPA of 3.25 or an ACT score of 21. These standards are set by the South Dakota Board of Regents.
Tri-Valley students are also eligible if they have had four years of English classes, three years of advanced mathematics, three years of laboratory science, three years of social studies, and one year of art classes or have earned a sufficient score on the 10th grade ACT Summative Assessment or Accuplacer.
At West Central, the work loads of dual credit courses reflect a genuine college class and vary among classes and teachers. Students are given one “supervised learning period” for each dual credit course they are enrolled in, according to West Central’s Dual Credit Coordinator Patrick Kleinjan. A supervised learning period is an hour-long work time during the school day for students to work on their dual credit classes.
Tri-Valley High School Counselor Sheri Booze says that dual credit courses at Tri-Valley also vary depending on the teacher of the course and the university the course is taken through. She says that even the same courses can have different workloads depending on the university.
“I’m taking College Algebra and Composition I, and I plan on taking Speech next semester. They were not easy classes, and you have to make sure to put the time in. If you don’t take the time to do your work, you won’t pass these classes,” said Schildhauer.
Both schools agree that one of the greatest benefits to taking dual credit courses is how cost effective they are compared to regular college classes.
“Students have the opportunity to enroll in coursework at the rate of $48.33 per credit hour or 1/3rd of the normal price per credit hour,” said Kleinjan.
Along with financial benefits, dual credit courses make for an easier transition to college and give students the chance to get a jumpstart on their higher education.
“The overwhelming majority of students score highly in these courses. Since I started recording data on our program, more students have received A’s than any other grade” Kleinjan said.