Forty-six of the students taking spring semester classes at the University of the District of Columbia’s Van Ness campus are not college students; they’re enrolled in DC public high schools and public charter schools. Seven are students at Jackson-Reed High School. They’re earning college credit, and they’re doing so for free. Even the books are paid for.
The students are participating in DC’s Dual Enrollment program, and UDC is one of several area colleges and universities welcoming high school sophomores, juniors and seniors into virtual and in-person classes during the fall, spring and summer semesters. The program is currently accepting applications for the 2023-2024 school year.
Dual Enrollment is actually three programs: DCPS Private (minimum 3.0 GPA and includes Howard University, George Washington University and American University’s School of Education); OSSE Consortium (minimum 2.5 GPA and includes the UDC Van Ness campus, Montgomery College and Virginia State University); and UDC-CARE (no minimum GPA, and classes are offered through UDC’s community college).
The fall 2023-spring 2024 application deadline for DCPS Private and OSSE Consortium is April 7. The UDC-CARE deadline for fall 2023 is April 14. Application links and requirements are spelled out in detail here.
The college credit earned is transferrable to any post-secondary school (DCPS Dual Enrollment coordinator Emily Huey told a recent information session that Ivy League students often enroll in summer catch-up classes at UDC), and students who take certain classes can also apply to earn high school credit as well. The fall course schedules at participating schools are not yet available, but OSSE links to their spring and summer offerings here. UDC tells Forest Hill Connection that these courses are generally offered to students at the Van Ness Campus: Foundations of Writing I and II, Intermediate Algebra, Foundation Quantitative Reasoning, Biological Science I, General Chemistry, Foundations of Oral Communication, World Cultural Geography, Digital Communication Tools, Discovery Technology, Principles of Psychology, Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, U.S. History To 1865, U.S. History Since 1865, History of D.C.
High school students enrolled in the classes have access to the same advising, tutoring and disability support programs and accommodations as their college-age counterparts receive. UDC offers these services through its Student Achievement Center and Accessibility Resource Center.
George Hofmann says
This is one of the outgrowths of a program founded by my friend Dr. Janet Lieberman at LaGuardia Community College of the City Univeristy of New York in the 1970-80s. It has been an overhelming success nationwide.