HANCOCK COUNTY — Seventeen-year-old Christian Varela has a jump start on his dream of being a doctor, thanks to the more than three dozen college credits he has earned in high school.
The Greenfield-Central High School senior is one of hundreds of Hancock County students taking advantage of dual credit and Advanced Placement classes before going to college. According to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, 59 percent of the county’s high school graduates in 2016 earned college credits, close to the state average of 62 percent. Schools also are offering more advanced vocational options to better prepare students who plan to enter the workforce after high school.
In both cases, high school is becoming even more of a running start for students’ college or vocational plans.
Varela already has 37 college credits and could earn from three to 12 more depending on his second-semester classes and AP test scores. That would make Varela a sophomore when he first steps on campus in the fall. He’s planning to attend Indiana University to study biochemistry and pre-med.
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He’s learned how to better prepare for exams and better manage his time by taking rigorous classes in high school, Varela said.
“When you think of investing, people like to think of putting in money to get out money,” he said. “But I’d like to think I’m investing my time to get something out of it so I can learn a little bit more.”
Varela said he’s not sure if he will complete his undergraduate degree in less than four years since he has enough credits to make that happen; he at least has already tested out of some general classes. Varela hopes to attend medical school and study internal medicine after graduating from IU.
The Greenfield-Central student has always enjoyed learning about human biology, he said, and he’s visited with doctors and shadowed a nurse practitioner at Hancock Regional Hospital.
“I like the professional aspect, and I like helping people,” he said.
Kim Kile, director of school counseling at Greenfield-Central High School, said dual-credit classes prepare students for their next step after high school, whether that’s the pursuit of a four-year college degree or technical certification. It can also save students money, she said. With tuition at state universities costing $8,000 to $10,000 a year, the relatively inexpensive dual-credit courses make sense for families trying to stretch their education budgets.
“For the college-bound student, it’s really a way to enhance that next step for them,” she said. Students can easily double major, add a minor or earn a bachelor’s degree sooner by acquiring credits.
Greenfield-Central offers 33 dual-credit classes and 19 AP classes, from science and math to aviation and culinary arts. Kile said counselors work with Greenfield students to tailor their classes and schedules to their passions. Varela is taking the most-advanced calculus and physics classes the high school offers this semester.
“There’s something just about for every student,” Kile said.
Last year’s graduating class of 341 students earned credits for 821 college courses, Kile said.
Some of the dual-credit courses available through Indiana University, Ball State University and the University of Southern Indiana cost $25 a credit hour. Ivy Tech Community College doesn’t charge students to take the dual-credit courses the college offers at the high school.
AP tests cost $94, and the state pays for students to take English, math and science exams, Kile said.
Students who are focusing on career technical education might take dual-credit classes to better prepare for industry training and learn soft skills needed if they enter the workforce after school.
The high school also partners with Walker Career Center in Warren Township so students can take technical classes, such as construction, automotive and computer technology. Some of those students earn college credits through Ivy Tech and Vincennes University, Kile said.
Mt. Vernon High School students also take classes at Walker Career Center, said principal Greg Roach. The school recognizes not all students want or need to go to college, he added.
“I think we offer a variety of paths for students, whether they want to go straight to the workforce or go on to a vocational school, get a certification or go to a four-year college,” Roach said.
Mt. Vernon’s class of 2018 had 105 students who earned at least one dual credit. That’s about a third of the senior class, Roach said. The school offers 15 dual-credit classes in fields like biology, chemistry, calculus, history, aviation, civil engineering, computer science and education.
Some of the high school’s dual-credit opportunities are classes through Indiana University. For those, IU trains Mt. Vernon teachers to instruct college-level coursework. The school also offers 14 AP classes.
Brenna Lechner, 17, a senior at Mt. Vernon High School, has taken four AP classes since her sophomore year and is currently enrolled in two. She’s still determining where she’ll attend college after high school, but is glad she’ll have a head start when she arrives.
AP classes are challenging, she said, but in a good way, adding they’ve turned her into a better student overall. They come with a lot of homework, and exams require plenty of preparation, she said.
Lechner added she’s learned valuable lessons on time management in her dual-credit courses.
“You cannot succeed if you just start everything the day before because that’s not how it works anymore,” she said.
At Eastern Hancock High School, 79 of 109 students in the 2018 graduating class earned dual credit, officials said. The school offers dual-credit courses in languages, mathematics, history, science and other topics, including agricultural business management.
Administrators try to make sure there are dual-credit or AP classes in each subject to interest all students, which has resulted in the high school offering more than 1,200 college credits total, with students earning an average of 16 college credits each, principal David Pfaff said.
There have been six students to earn a full year of college credits, and more than 41 to earn a semester’s worth in Eastern Hancock’s history, Pfaff added.
While administrators believe not every student needs to attend a four-year university, they promote post-high school job training for all students, superintendent Vicki McGuire said. Eastern Hancock has a partnership with New Castle Career Center, a vocational school in Henry County, where students can learn trades such as cosmetology, welding, machine trades, graphic design, EMT certification and more.
“We absolutely agree that not all students need to go to college,” McGuire said in an email. “We believe all students should get some specialized training after high school, though. There are some great occupations that don’t require a four-year degree, and we stress that to our students.”
New Palestine High School offers about 24 dual credit classes for its students. Wes Anderson, public relations director for Southern Hancock schools, said dual credit is one of many opportunities offered to students.
“College isn’t for every student, but for those that choose the college route, dual credit is a great chance to get ahead,” Anderson said. “Other students may choose different pathways that will help them go into a trade, apprenticeship, or technical school after graduation.”
Keith Fessler, principal of New Palestine High School, said the school currently has 16 dual credit classes. The school’s “Early College” program has been in place for three years, Fessler said.
Students can earn up to 60 dual credits and an associate degree upon high school graduation. School officials interview interested eighth-graders and try to keep cohorts to about 60 students. The high school currently has about 150 students in the Early College program, Fessler said.
The Daily Reporter’s Rorye Hatcher, Mitchell Kirk and Kristy Deer contributed to this story.
