What is Dual Enrollment?

March 31, 2015

One of the major goals of the Transition Program at Milestones is to prepare students socially and academically for both real life employment experience as well as the tools to succeed at college courses.  The Dual Enrollment Program can help students further that goal while still a student at Milestones.  Let’s take a look at this program and it see if it might be a good fit for your older child.

What is Dual Enrollment?

In general, Dual Enrollment involves students being enrolled in two separate, academically related institutions- typically a  high school students taking college courses. For Milestones students this may mean taking a college course at a local community college or a participating four year college while concurrently attending Milestones classes- gaining credits both at the high school and the college.  Milestones has partnered with Mass Bay Community College to offer this program for our students. In most cases day, evening, weekend and online courses are available as part of Dual Enrollment.

The Benefits of Dual Enrollment- There is a growing body of evidence that students who take part in this type of program see a greater level of success in college both academically and socially.  Here are some other key points to consider:

  1. Each student has a transition counselor at the high school and a Dual Enrollment Coordinator at the college who is advising and guiding along the way.
  2. Students can choose areas of strength and high interest classes that maybe are not offered at their high school. .
  3. Students gain access to academic and student support services, including academic advising, career counseling, free tutoring, computer labs, and library access.
  4. Dual enrollment gives students an idea of what full-time college coursework will be like by trying out a few classes while still in high school, This way your child can get used to the academic environment before he or she leaves the comfort and support of home and high school.
  5. Perhaps the biggest benefit of dual enrollment is that your student may start accumulating college credits, helping him or her graduate on time or even early.