Hundreds of Toledo students are collecting their first college credits while still walking through high school hallways.
The University of Toledo and Toledo Public Schools want to put more pupils in that prime position, and they are working to ensure TPS students who enroll in UT courses are choosing classes that add up to an associate of arts degree.
Leaders of the two institutions are scheduled to announce today a new push to increase the number of TPS students taking college courses through the statewide College Credit Plus program, and to make sure those students are carefully selecting those courses.
“We want to be very strategic about what they are taking and making sure that it transfers to other colleges or that it fits in with a degree here,” said Barbara Kopp Miller, UT’s associate provost for online education.
Caleb Fouts, an 18-year-old Woodward High School senior, expects the UT courses he’s taken in sociology and English composition — plus a social issues class he’s currently enrolled in — will cross off prerequisites and help him move more quickly into becoming a history major at Ohio University.
Younger high schoolers will have an even greater opportunity to load up on courses in the next couple of years.
“I know a lot of my friends that are sophomores that are taking it now, and they’re just like, ‘Oh, yeah, by the time I’m done I should be able to have … an associates if need be,’” he said.
That saves students time and money once they enter college, officials said.
College Credit Plus lets seventh through 12th-graders earn high school and college credit simultaneously by taking college courses online, in their home school with a credentialed teacher, or on a college campus.
TPS pays $40 per credit hour for its students to take courses, and the district’s students account for about 400 of UT’s 910 program participants.
UT has offered the 60-credit associate degree for decades, though it hasn’t been popular in recent years. Thirty-six credits that can be transferred to other public Ohio colleges and universities are from classes in core subjects such as math, English, humanities, and sciences. The remaining credits are from 1000- and 2000-level classes that a student could select to align with a specific bachelor’s program.
Developing the college-focused academic track helps TPS increase curriculum rigor and prepare students for college or a career, said Jim Gault, chief academic officer.
To obtain an associate degree by high school graduation, students likely would need to start taking college courses in their sophomore year, he said.
About 40 percent of TPS students who take UT courses do so online, the university estimated. Online classes have been supported through a partnership with Buckeye CableSystem, which provided free Internet services to students while TPS provided laptops. The cable company and The Blade are owned by Block Communications, Inc. That program started a year ago with about two dozen students and now includes roughly 200, Mr. Gault said.
A nearly $770,000 state grant announced in December will allow up to 40 TPS teachers to receive training from UT to teach college courses within their high school classrooms. Mr. Gault expects those teachers to be credentialed for that work by fall of 2017, though some will complete requirements sooner.
The district tapped Robin Wheatley, the former Toledo Early College High School principal, to lead the college credit program.
Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.
First Published March 24, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
