St. Louis Community College and the district are
in the process of coordinating a dual enrollment
program for high school students.
“Dual credit is when the student takes college-level
classes at the high school taught by high school instructors,”
Rebecca Emerson, the executive director of
K-12 initiatives for STLCC, said. “Dual enrollment, on
the other hand, is taught by an instructor employed
by the college.”
The cost for dual credit and dual enrollment
programs through STLCC differ too, with dual credit
costing $25 per credit hour and dual enrollment costing
$106 per credit hour; the dual credit program the
district currently has with the University of Missouri-
St. Louis costs $64 per credit hour.
“Courses are available throughout the metro
region at our four campuses, two educational centers,
and six centers of excellence,” Emerson said. “STLCC
offers the best rate for general education transfer
coursework as well as Career and Technical education
coursework in our metro region.”
Dual enrollment courses are typically taken on
a college campus, but they can also be taken online
as well. Parkway students would most likely attend
the Wildwood or Meramec campuses due to driving
distance.
“Most often, high school students use dual enrollment
to take what are called ‘gateway’ courses,
or coursework that is normally taken during the first
year of college,” Emerson said.
With enrollment in the dual enrollment program
comes access to campus clubs, organization and
activities and the ability to receive college student
discounts.
“High school students may register for nearly
any STLCC course via dual enrollment as long
as they meet prerequisites and placement testing
requirements,” Emerson said. “The exceptions would
be courses that are a part of selective admissions
programming, such as nursing, courses designated by
state or accreditation policy that have an age or high
school graduation requirement, such as education
courses or truck driving, or those with prerequisites.”
The grade and credits earned with dual enrollment
directly transfer to the college transcript but
only apply to high school graduation credit at the
discretion of the individual school. Parkway has not
yet determined if dual enrollment courses will count
for graduation credit.
“Most of our 100-plus certificate and degree programs
have components that qualified students may
begin while still in high school,” Emerson said.
STLCC offers classes that range from Introduction
to American Politics to engineering. An entire course
selection dedicated to career and technical education
is also available.
“Basically success breeds success, and establishing
a strong college transcript early allows students to
start momentum toward their post-high school college
or career goals,” Emerson said.