Ethnic Studies students review college level coursework and celebrate their success. photo by Shana Saint-Phard
Across the Denver Public School District, high schools are offering a variety of Concurrent Enrollment classes.
College enrollment (CE) classes allow students to earn high school credits as well as college credit hours at little no cost to the student, regardless of household income. At Thomas Jefferson High School, CE classes are offered among all departments and grade levels.
These classes are similar to Advanced Placement (AP) classes; however, they offer different benefits. In an AP class the only way the students are able to earn college credit is by taking and passing the AP test for that class. In contrast, students enrolled in CE classes will receive college credit for passing the class with a C or higher. Graham Baughn, the Concurrent Enrollment and College Readiness Coordinator at TJ, stated that “In most CE classes the grade you get in the class will transfer to any public university or college in Colorado.” A critical difference between CE and AP classes is how the credit is received. Some colleges only accept certain scores on the AP test, while others might not give out credit at all. In contrast, CE classes provide college credit for the class from a community college, such as Arapahoe Community College, without needing to pass a test.
TJ students can take a variety of CE credits, many of which fall into the Center for Communications and Technology Magnet Program (CCTM), such as Digital Photography or Media and News Reporting, and Computer Science. However, some classes require certain prerequisites. Baughn says that “some have what they call cut scores, like accuplacer cut scores so you need to score a minimum number on the accuplacer.” Other prerequisites may be having a certain GPA, SAT, or PSAT score. CE curriculums are created by the college that the class is offered through, as opposed to other classes in which DPS or College Board creates the curriculum.
Whether it is buying materials or paying test fees, many families in DPS, as well as here at TJ, struggle to pay these school expenses while making ends meet. Baughn says that for students at TJ the costs of taking CE classes should not be an issue, “There is a program called College Opportunity Fund (COF) that the Colorado government gives to students so each of them has a certain amount of money in their COF, so that they can use it to pay for college classes.” Because of COF, most students will have little to no costs required to take their CE classes. Charlie VanAbbema, a junior at TJ and Computer Science student stated. “It saves you time and money later in college”. Although the COF won’t cover the full cost of a college class, it is more than enough to ensure that CE classes are accessible for all students in Colorado.
Given that all high schools in DPS offer Concurrent Enrollment classes, it would be a good idea for all DPS students to look into what CE classes they could take. Receiving college credit in high school for free can save students thousands of dollars later on when they go off to college. TJ students are lucky that they have such a wide variety of CE classes at their fingertips.
