Starting College Early

Three and out

A number of years ago, when our daughter was a sophomore in high school, she decided to attend a six week summer drama program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. When she returned home, she told us that she could handle college level work and wanted to forgo her senior year of high school and start college a year early. Since her high school did not offer an accelerated program  for early  graduation she went to her guidance  counselor who  said that she could high  school a year early, but  she would need to take certain classes  during her freshman year to be  able to get her diploma assuming she could find a college that would accept her. Fortunately she did- in fact four universities said yes. When she finally selected a college, her new academic advisor told her that she could come as a freshman but could not advance to sophomore status unless she obtained her high school diploma. Fortunately both her college advisor and high school guidance counselor worked together make our daughter’s plan a reality.

Today there are many more options. Some students wish to get a jump on their college education load up on Advanced Placement (AP) courses.  Students can earn as much as 18 credits or more and enter college as a high freshman or even a sophomore.

In an effort to save money, high schools in many states are offering options for students to complete the required course work to obtain a diploma in three years. Combining courses and offering summer course work are just two plans to accelerate the process.  Students seem to be willing to forgo the prom and senior class trip in order to get to college sooner and ostensibly to get to job market sooner (the jury is still out on this issue).

Several states, like Indiana, have program in place where high school teachers are taught how to teach introductory college courses. Students who successfully complete these courses can obtain college credit. In other states, students are given release time to take courses at local communities colleges.

What we are witnessing is a major paradigm shift in the way education is  delivered to students.  No longer is it engraved in stone that a student must spend four full years in high school in order  to be awarded a diploma.

 According to Elise Christopher, a researcher who tracks high-school students for the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 2.9% of students who were sophomores in 2002 graduated from high school in three years or less.

What are the downsides?

1)      Scholarship funds. By graduating early some students may lose out  for  certain competitive scholarship funds.

2)       Social issues. Some 16 and 17 years olds are not quite ready for the independence and social situations presented in college, especially if a student is going to live on campus.  Students have to realize that for the most part there is little or no hand-holding at the university level.

3)      Competitive Colleges and Universities. By choosing to graduate in three years or other leaving for college a year early may be a negative for those students who wish to attend the more selective institutions. Some universities wanted to see a fully rounded resume with academic course work, extra-curricular activities as well as community service.

Readers might want to view this article published by Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development in Illinois. (http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/resources/displayArticle/?id=153.

You will have an opportunity to review a synopsis of the  research a about attending college early, including both social as well as academic issues and other alternatives for students who want to get a jump on their college education.  Please share this information with your students.