By Sarah West
Many parents of middle and high school students have, in the last year, become aware of College Credit Plus (CCP), a program instituted in 2015 as an “agency initiative” by the Ohio Department of Higher Education (also called Ohio Higher Ed, or OHE). CCP continued the mission of the former Post-Secondary Enrollment Options program, even extending the parameters by allowing students in grades seven and eight to apply to participate. CCP programs are in place at all public community colleges and universities in Ohio, as well as some private colleges.
As families weigh the value of including CCP into a student’s academic life, several questions arise that warrant serious — and honest — discussion. It should be emphasized that the decision to participate in CCP must be made with the best interests of the student, which includes not only academic needs, but social, emotional and cognitive needs, as well. Parents must be realistic about whether their particular student has the independence and motivation to participate successfully in CCP. Here are some elements to consider before applying to any CCP program:
- The desired outcome is a reasonable one given the length of time a student has to participate in CCP. If a student’s goal is to try college classes in small doses (one or two courses at a time) while still attending most classes at the high school or middle school, this is realistic and often a best choice. However, it may not be reasonable for a student to earn 30 hours in a single academic year if they have never participated in CCP before and have gaps in their academic background. Carefully considering the thread of CCP in the whole cloth of a student’s academic life is an important first step for families and school counselors.
- The student has experience managing their own academic, social, extracurricular and family schedule and can communicate effectively. Students whose parents are still doing much of the legwork in organizing these facets of their lives cannot be reasonably expected to have the kind of independence it requires to be on a college campus with an adult learner population up to five days a week. There is no structured day in a CCP program like there is in high school, and if your student struggles to communicate effectively with adults outside their known safe zones (family, school, close friends), has frequent absences from school, misses deadlines, or just demands a lot of parental input for basic decision-making, CCP may not be the best choice.
- The student has a solid academic foundation across multiple subject areas — math, the sciences, the humanities and the social sciences. Some CCP programs require that students submit ACT or SAT scores as part of the admission process and have a minimum GPA in order to be eligible to apply. Others only require a placement test. Whatever the particular program requires, one thing is clear: there are many pieces of data that can help predict whether a student is likely to succeed in a college-level class, and a high school GPA — especially a weighted GPA — should not be the only determining factor. Since CCP students are creating a college transcript that impacts high school GPA as well as future college admissions, CCP is not the place to risk failing a course about which the student has little background knowledge.
- The student is coachable. This may be one of the biggest factors in CCP success. Students who are egocentric, inflexible, uncomfortable with being challenged or poor collaborators are not going to be good fits for CCP. Again, the age range of other students in university classes is 18-75 years old. Successful CCPers see the value in multi-age learning communities and respond well to the diversity inherent in the CCP experience.
College Credit Plus can be a positive enhancement to a pupil’s secondary school experience, but a good experience requires careful planning, honest assessment and realistic, reasonable goal setting. Families should partner with their school guidance counselors or schedule a meeting with local CCP coordinators in order to ascertain the best choices for their student.
Information about College Credit Plus can be obtained at ohiohighered.org/ccp/faqs.
