“It is hard to assess if someone is mature enough,” Bogart said. “Students who do this are already thinking about their future and exhibiting maturity.”
Ohio law requires high schools to offer students the post secondary option so they can attend college classes and earn credit toward a degree before high school graduation. Certain test scores are needed to qualify and one failing grade puts students out of the program.
A growing number are finishing associate degrees while in high school.
Beavercreek senior Kristin Collingsworth earned her associate degree from Sinclair Community College as a junior. She plans to work for a year after high school to earn money to attend Wright State University and is hopeful her associate degree will help her find a decent paying job.
“I’m thinking about substitute teaching at my high school,” Collingsworth said. At Sinclair she “was 15 and surrounded by 19- and 20-year-olds, so I had to mature a little faster. It really wasn’t an issue for me.”
The freedom of the college environment is often what draws already advanced high school students to post-secondary courses. Lauren Altenburger, who received two associate degrees from Edison before finishing Troy High School, started taking college classes as a junior. “The freedom was appealing at the time,” she said.
Nonetheless Altenburger’s father, Scott, said they vetted the program carefully. “We did quite a bit of research before allowing her to go the post secondary route,” he said.
“I think it speaks highly of the high school,” he said. All of Altenburger’s college credits will transfer to Ohio State University where she plans to study education in the fall.
Altenburger hasn’t actually gone to Troy High School since she was a sophomore, but she is still connected to her classmates. She went to prom, runs on the cross country team and is a member of the National Honor Society.
“I really don’t feel like I missed out on much of the high school experience,” she said.
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