NORTH BRUNSWICK – North Brunswick Township High School is presenting an opportunity for students to receive college credit.
Through the Dual Enrollment Academy at Middlesex County College, NBTHS students can enroll in specific classes at the high school that also count for college credit at MCC.
In order to articulate, students pay $200 per course to the college while attending the class at the high school; as long as there is a passing grade, the course counts toward the high school graduation requirements while also appearing on the college transcript.
“This is a way to get the kids thinking about college much earlier than they do,” Director of Guidance Kevin Farrell said. “They connect the dots a little more, they save their parents money and they finish college sooner.”
Currently, three classes at NBTHS are approved: College Writing 1; College Writing 2; and Dimensions of Prejudice, Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Any student in any grade may attend the classes, as long as their course schedule allows. Currently, about 50 students can be accommodated per year per course, due to class sections, Principal Michael Kneller said. This provides students who may not be enrolled in honors or Advanced Placement classes to have access to college prep level classes, he said.
“We want the whole population to benefit from programs like this,” Farrell said.
“It shows we’re committed to offering as much access to college [as possible],” Kneller said.
Farrell said this also encourages students to perform better, since if they can visualize themselves in college, they will start setting goals sooner and work harder to avoid a low grade on a college transcript.
“We want our kids to get a jumpstart when they graduate from here,” he said.
He also said that about 30 percent of NBTHS graduates attend MCC.
With the college credits, students can apply to MCC or a different college. However, Farrell said that “We know Middlesex is a great place for kids to wind up,” saying that students sometimes downplay success at a county college.
“For some kids it’s the right fit and it’s a really good school,” said Kneller, who is part of MCC’s New Brunswick Center Advisory Board.
Farrell said as more teachers become interested and apply with their credentials and curriculum, the choices will increase. Representatives from MCC evaluate the criteria and if a course is determined to be college-level, it is approved for articulation. Sometimes, the curriculum needs adjustment before approval, Farrell said.
The ultimate goal at NBTHS is to join the Pathways program, which allows students to achieve a high school diploma at the same time as an associate’s degree at MCC. This would require seniors to attend a certain number of classes on the MCC campus, though it could be on weekends or during the summer or winter sessions, Farrell said. He noted this may be a few years away.
“We feel confident we have a strong curriculum here and will have a lot of courses approved by Middlesex,” Farrell said.
Contact Jennifer Amato at jamato@newspapermediagroup.com.
