October 2023

Dual Enrollment What?! I Can Go To College While I'm Still In High School?!

photo courtesy of Red River Parish Journal

By Eli Landau

What is dual enrollment? Essentially, being dual enrolled means that you are taking a class or classes in college while still in high school. And don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds. Take it from me. I’m doing dual enrollment as I type this.

One benefit of dual enrollment is that it counts as double credit in high school, meaning, taking a class for one semester in college counts for two semesters in high school. For example, I am taking an English class at Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC), therefore I do not need to take English at CHAMPS this year. Another benefit of dual enrollment is that since you are taking the college class during high school, you don’t have to take it again after you graduate. Therefore, you could potentially graduate college sooner.

Also, did you know that college classes aren’t as rigorous as AP classes? Plus, dual enrollment looks great on transcripts.

Another bonus is that you could even graduate high school early. My brother, thanks to dual enrollment, was able to graduate high school in only three years instead of four.

Students who do dual enrollment are also more likely to succeed in high school and college.

However, most of the students that I discuss dual enrollment with have never heard of it.  So I decided to talk to Ms. Leung (the College and Career Counselor) about why she thinks that may be, as well as her opinion on the matter.  “Teachers don’t really talk about it,” she said plainly.  “Students fill their curriculum in high school.  However, CHAMPS tries to recommend dual enrollment for students that want to take classes that aren’t offered here.”

To this, I asked her, “Why isn’t it advertised?” Surely a way to graduate earlier and get ahead in college before you even start should be praised, right?  

Well, Ms. Leung does want to advertise dual enrollment as “a way to explore more [job] opportunities rather than a way to graduate early.”

Additionally, she shared with me that she is trying to get a college professor to teach a class or two here on campus.  Apparently this is something that has been done in the previous years at CHAMPS as well.  These classes however were something along the lines of business classes; they were mainly something to expand job knowledge and opportunities.

Some classes that aren’t offered here at CHAMPS that could be taken as dual enrollment would be: other foreign languages like  ASL, French, etc, as well as other electives like computer classes, or additional art classes, and things along those lines.

If dual enrollment does interest you, then consider discussing it with your parents as well as Ms. Leung, the College and Career Counselor, to better your education. 🐾