Rio Salado's Dual Enrollment
Rio Salado Community College dual enrollment makes course payoff twice as nice.For Mark Maxson, it’s a no-brainer. Why not take classes that would count towards both his high school diploma and give him a head start on college credits? His sister had done the same thing when she was in high school and had entered the UofA with sophomore status.
The Corona del Sol senior, who plans to attend NAU and major in business, is enrolled in dual-credit courses in math and English through Rio Salado College. Corona is one of 52 high schools in the Valley that partner with Rio Salado; like all 7,000 students enrolled in the program, Mark’s classes meet during the school day at his high school and are taught using a college curriculum and textbooks. The credits at Rio Salado, the only community college in the state that is certified by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships, are accepted at all in-state schools and some out-of-state ones as well.
Mark cites the money his parents are saving, the challenge of the coursework and the leg up the credits will give him in college as reasons why he strongly recommends Rio Salado’s dual-enrollment program.
“I like the fact that my classes are smaller that what I hear that university course classes are like,” Mark says. “I feel like I am learning what a college curriculum and environment are like.”
The cost of dual enrollment classes is the same as community college classes --- usually about one-third the cost of a class at ASU or UofA --- and are primarily open to juniors and seniors. Some courses require prerequisites or assessments to enroll and may count as a weighted grade.
Editor's Note:
This article originally appeared in the
January, February 2008 Issue of azTeen Magazine.
This article has been viewed 1470 times.
