Concurrent enrollment

One thought depriving many parents of sleep is the cost of their child's tuition in college.

Many remedies can offset the high costs of a good education, such as scholarships, grants and student aid. However, one of the most brilliant plans is one that sometimes floats under the radar.

Concurrent enrollment allows a student to earn college credit while still in high school. It provides the same course work and credits that students would get in college, allows students to get ahead on their collegiate schedule and provides opportunities for a special scholarships. And here's the best part: It doesn't cost much.

No, this is not a scam to steal the public's money. It's not some third-rate, unaccredited education. It's concurrent enrollment with local community colleges.

At Salt Lake Community College, for example, high school students pay a $35 fee, sign up with their high school guidance counselor -- and voila, they're enrolled simultaneously in a community college and high school.

The process is quite easy and affordable. Murray High School teaches 22 concurrent enrollment classes, all of which are instructed by SLCC-approved teachers. According to the Utah State Office of Education, there are 112 schools participating this year in concurrent-enrollment studies.

One of the nicest perks of concurrent enrollment, if planned correctly, is the New Century Scholarship, which is provided by the state to students who complete their associate degree by Sept. 1 of the year their class graduates from high school. The scholarship will then pay 75 percent of the students' tuition for their last two years in a Utah college.

Concurrent enrollment is the easiest way of getting the New Century award, since many teens have jobs and extracurricular duties, which keep them from spending time on a college campus during their last year of high school.

Thousands of students all over the state have taken advantage of the program. "I think concurrent enrollment classes are a really good opportunity for high school students to take college credit classes and only have to pay $35," said Danielle Butler, a senior from Murray. "I highly recommend anybody that's in high school to take concurrent enrollment classes if they can."

Murray senior Kelsey Ruff said, "It saves a lot of money and a lot of time. You can expand your horizons, and you can also get a jump- start on your life after high school."

"If a student is prepared to take a course," said Murray assistant principal Dolph Church, "and feels confident in the material and confident that they can perform well, then it seems prudent to take a concurrent-enrollment course, because it's a way to get a head start with college courses, and it's a cost-effective way to get some courses out of the way."

Getting some courses out of the way before college is yet another great reason to take these prolific courses. Classes such as Math 1050, English 1010 and Communications 1200 are just a few of the general-education classes that can be taken in high school.

"I teach the CIS 1020 class," said Laura Deshazo. "I feel that the students that are in my concurrent-enrollment classes are achieving a higher goal than just their core curriculum classes. Those students seem to be up to a more rigorous curriculum."

Concurrent classes are more work, but that's because they're literally college classes. If a student can handle the load, teachers say, they are encouraged to participate.

Nick Parker is a senior at Murray High School and a member of the Deseret Morning News Pulse team of high school writers. He is also concurrently enrolled at Salt Lake Community College, and he is the content editor of Murray High's The Voice and opinion editor of Salt Lake Community College's The Globe. If you are a Utah high school student and have a topic you would like to see covered, please e- mail pulse@desnews.com or write to Susan Whitney at the Deseret Morning News.

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