Penn Hills High School expands college in high school offerings

Students at Penn Hills High School can get a taste of university life while also earning college credits for the future by participating in the school’s dual enrollment courses, also known as college in high school.

The courses not only offer students credits towards their high school graduation, they also start up a college transcript for the students that will be issued by one of the participating schools, which include the University of Pittsburgh, Seton Hill University and LaRoche University.

Pitt offers psychology, advanced broadcasting and calculus, Seton Hill offers history, statistics, honors trigonometry, calculus, language and composition, physics, and literature, and LaRoche offers chemistry and biology.

The CIHS courses differ from traditional AP courses in that there is no AP exam involved at the end of the dual enrollment classes. CIHS classes are structured like a traditional college course, often including both a class-specific midterm and/or a final.

Penn Hills principal Eric Kostic delineated the difference. “The Dual Enrollment Courses are more involved. With an AP course, that high school syllabus and that curriculum has to be reviewed and approved by the college board,” he said. “The dual enrollment courses are based on the school they come from. For instance, the psychology dual enrollment course for Pitt is already based off of Pitt’s curriculum. Then, if the student elects to go elsewhere, these are official credits from Pitt that are easily transferrable.

“The students don’t have to take the AP exam with the dual enrollment courses, however, the classes are very demanding. You have to earn a C or higher and you have to maintain good attendance. If you’re absent, that can hurt you.”

The courses range in cost from $225-$300, which is significantly cheaper than the average college credit, and Penn Hills offers financial support to any student participating by paying the full amount for each student’s first dual enrollment course. Penn Hills will also pay for one AP exam for any student enrolled in traditional AP courses rather than the dual enrollment/CIHS.

According to Penn Hills duperintendent Nancy Hines, the CISH program gives students a chance to preview college life and get acclimated to the types of studies they will need to maintain in order to be successful at the next level.

“Remaining in the high school setting while they attempt their first college-level course capitalizes on the sense of familiarity and offers additional support. Early exposure also provides a look at the level of rigor and standard practices associated with college or university studies,” Hines said. “Additionally, completing their first assignment at no cost provides significant savings for students and their families because students do not have to repeat those courses when they enroll in college. For students who may question whether or not they are ‘college material,’ early exposure also helps to reduce anxiety and reinforce for students that they are capable of moving on to post-secondary study, which increases confidence and the likelihood of post-secondary success.”

The students themselves have had positive experiences in the program. Junior Jeremy Safran is taking psychology at Pitt, chemistry at LaRoche and honors trigonometry and history at Seton Hill, and he appreciates the flexibility in the program.

“I’m undecided about where I’m going to school, but all of these credits are transferrable no matter where I end up choosing,” Safran said. “The course work is challenging, but the teachers are really interactive and involved with the students and really make it understandable. As long as you’re doing your homework and studying, you can do well. It’s a good experience as far as being exposed to college-level coursework. It’s like a stepping-off point, a really good transition, and I plan on taking more next year. It’s really worth it financially. You save a lot of money over college credits.”

Junior Noelle Warren is taking psychology at Pitt, language and composition and statistics at Seton Hill.

“I really like the program. My favorite is language and composition. It’s more of a critical thinking class. It’s more than just giving details, it’s expanding on why and how things fit,” Warren said. “Right now, we’re breaking down essays, and you really have to elaborate on it. It’ll help me better explain myself and my thoughts when I get to college or in the work place. And in psychology, we’re doing lecture notes. Our teacher said that not all of your professors will put the information up on the board, so it’s been really helping me adapt. These classes also help with money for college and are also teaching me better time management.”

Moving forward, the administration at Penn Hills is looking to add additional courses for students to take advantage of, which is a far journey for the program that began in 2016 with only courses from CCAC and has since made the leap to classes from four-year schools.

“We are going to expand our offerings. For example, LaRoche has a lot of courses there that we also offer here, as well at Seton Hill and Pitt, so we’ll be looking to add to the amount of classes offered here for dual enrollment in the future,” Kostic said.