Dual Enrollment-what is it?

High school students can get a jump start on their college studies with the Athens Tech dual enrollment program. 

Achieve More with Athens Tech, the official podcast of Athens Technical College.

A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia. Equal Opportunity Institution.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:00):
Welcome to achieve more with Athens Tech, the official podcasts
of Athens Technical College. This is where you'll discover how
the programs of Athens Tech can connect you with in-demand
and high paying careers. Today, we're going to hear about
the dual enrollment program.

S2 (00:16):
Dual enrollment is for high school students to get ahead
in college, to gain college credit and earn credentials. And
for up to 30 hours, they get that free through
Georgia futures funding. And it's a great way for students
to get ahead while they're still in high school and
cut down on that time that they have to spend

(00:37):
either in their two or four year college later or
go straight into the workforce with the credential that they
earn through doing all that.

S1 (00:44):
Let's begin by hearing from one of the staff members
at Athens Tech spearheading the dual enrollment program and what
she has to say to parents considering putting their child
into the program.

S2 (00:55):
Hi, I'm Tracy Magee, the high school coordinator for Athens
Technical College, and I work with dual enrollment students and
I have done this since 1999 and I joined Athens
Tech in 2008, and I love what I do. The
main concern from parents is, is my student ready? And

(01:18):
that is a question that we we talk about and
we say if they are doing well in high school
and they are ready to get ahead and this is
the best place for them to start, because with dual enrollment,
they're enrolled in two institutions, their high school and their college.
And they have me here at the college to help

(01:38):
them navigate their path into these college classes. And I
can help them formulate questions to ask. If they don't
know what to ask, I can send them to the
right person, whether it be the program chair or their instructors.
If they're just really brand new and not ready to
ask questions on their own. And then we really try

(02:00):
to get them to be independent students so that they're
successful moving forward and getting these early college credits. Scheduling
is the biggest thing that we have to talk about
with students because with dual enrollment, if they take the
college class, that's equivalent to one of their high school
classes or will count as one of their electives. But

(02:23):
we have to determine what's the best way and format
for them to take this class. So we offer at
the college face to face classes where they come to
school 1 to 3 days a week, depending on the course.
We also offer these classes online at 100%. And then
if the high school schedule is four periods a day

(02:46):
or seven or eight periods of day, then I work
with the students, counselors and parents as a dual enrollment
team to determine what class time will best fit with
their schedule. And then we look and see what's available
at the college and just marry the schedules up or
do it online.

S1 (03:06):
So I know a lot of parents are thinking this
right now. What is the cost of this program?

S2 (03:11):
This is the best thing that is available. It is
incredible that the state through Georgia Student Finance Commission offers
30 per semester hours of free college credit to students
who enroll through dual enrollment. There are other opportunities past
the 30 hours, but they are more specialized by for

(03:35):
the first 30 hours, which is basically a year of college.
They can take these classes free for tuition. There are
no fees associated to it or book costs for the students.
If a student is in a program such as welding
or diesel or something that requires that equipment that is

(03:56):
unique to that student, the program doesn't pay for that.
But they're getting the tuition, the fees and the books
all through the Georgia futures funding application.

S1 (04:06):
One year free. That is absolutely amazing. I'm jealous.

S2 (04:12):
It's double the credit half the time, zero the tuition.
That's the short and sweet of of it that way.
CSG Technical College System of Georgia advertises it because that's
the truth.

S1 (04:24):
So let's talk to a student about how Athens tax
schedules classes around your current high school debt.

S3 (04:29):
My name is Emma Rents and I don't go to
Athens Tech from fall of 2018 to spring of 2021.
I like to play soccer and I was in the
marching band at my high school. I was journaling and
coming up I will be transferring my credits from Athens
Tech to Georgia Tech for this fall. Obviously, Athens Tech
has the same class during a lot of different times,

(04:51):
so I made sure to sit down with my advisor
and go through and make sure that I had classes
more in the morning. And then that way I could
do more to men in the afternoon. And the advisors
at Athens Tech are very knowledgeable and very welcome to
help with any scheduling issues.

S1 (05:09):
What was the process like to do a lead role?
And do you have any suggestions for students that might
be interested in it?

S3 (05:15):
Yeah, So actually so I was in middle school because
I started during my freshman year and my older sister
both Dawn rolled and the first thing that they always
say is that they were said that it sooner at
the beginning of eighth grade, they told me that in
order to go to Athens take I had to have
at least three high school credits. So I went ahead
and did that. And then I had to take an

(05:38):
admissions test to get in because I didn't have an
active S.A.T. and so I took it. I actually failed
the first time, but they had some like health sessions
on Saturday. So I went to this and then I
passed it the next time. And so I think it
was really just like a family influence on getting me
into it because they had to enroll. And so I

(06:00):
wanted to do the same thing.

S1 (06:01):
Is dual enrollment only for really smart kids or can
anyone succeed in it?

S3 (06:06):
I think it's for anyone who wants to take the
opportunity and take advantage of it. Like, like I said,
I was a freshman in high school and I'm sure
a lot of people would agree that, you know, juniors
and seniors in high school have a lot more experience
and or maybe smarter than freshmen. So I think that
if I could do it at that age, that anyone
definitely older, but even the same age, I think that

(06:29):
I guess the workload is less than high school, but
the critical thinking is more so as long as you're
open to think critically and really sit down with problems
that you can in your classes and making sure that
you're on top of your work and you're staying organized,
that you know, that doesn't take intelligence to do. That
just takes effort, which, you know, everyone can do.

S1 (06:50):
Here's another student that went through the dual enrollment program.
And I want to ask you, as someone in high school,
did it make you nervous being in classes with older people.

S4 (06:59):
Online is Cameron Smith. I graduated from grade one in
high school with the dual enrollment program. I looked at
it more as an opportunity to grow. I know that
in college in general, you're going to be in classes
with people who are younger than you, older than you
come from different backgrounds, are in different areas of study.

(07:20):
So I think that also kind of prepared you for
what you were going to be looking forward to on
a smaller scale. So it gave you that experience and
make you more insight into what you were going to
be doing for the next four years once you graduate
and move on to college.

S1 (07:35):
That's a great way to look at it. If you
were talking to a high school student that was considering
the dual enrollment program but is a little unsure, what
would you say to them?

S4 (07:44):
I think a lot of students concerns about college or
one of the number one concerns about college is about
the cost. And so what I would say about dual
enrollment is that it helps greatly when it came to
the trials. I mean, we have a lot of bailable
now as far as grants and scholarship and, you know,
your loans and stuff go. But if you can save

(08:06):
money in college where you can as far as your
studies go out because college with a lot of expenses
that you may have not even know what pop up.
So dual enrollment gives you an opportunity to not only
get the experience before you actually go into college and,
you know, kind of figure out how college work load
and how the courses are going to be set up.

(08:27):
Not only does it give you that experience beforehand, but
it also is an opportunity to get some stuff out
of the way. And I feel like, especially with incoming
freshmen into college that first year, being away from home
and trying to figure out, you know, your sales and
what you have going on and what you want to do,
which is it can be hard to know. So getting

(08:49):
as many classes as you can, Diane, is definitely an
opportunity that I would encourage anybody to take advantage of.

S1 (08:57):
Now let's talk to another staff member that helps run
the dual enrollment program at Athens Tech.

S5 (09:02):
Hi, my name is Olivia. I'm the admissions assistant for
General education, online learning and tour enrollment. I was previously
the admissions assistant for dual enrollment, and I was a
dual enrollment student as well.

S1 (09:17):
Oh my gosh. So not only do you work in
the dual enrollment program, you were actually a student of
the program, too. So you have a lot of experience
with this. What are some of the biggest concerns you
hear from parents putting their child into the program?

S5 (09:32):
Well, from parents, mostly it's their concerns that their child
isn't necessarily ready for taking college class. I would say
as long as they're doing good in high school, they're
going to do good in into college. There's not much difference.
There also is a concern of the like the confidential
side of it, because we have to get a parent

(09:53):
signature for them to be able to know their grades,
know how they're doing in class, and a lot of parents.
I want to be very involved. But this is an
adult setting. And so we do treat the dual enrollment
students as adults. And so if they want that involvement,
they do have to sign that confidentiality waiver in order
to be able to be involved like they want to.

(10:15):
That's really the main issues. Like everything else is pretty easy.
You get 30 free credit hours of school and after
that you do have to pay. But you can apply
for the Hope grant. If you're in a certain certain
programs you're allowed to do that for. I think early
childhood is one.

S1 (10:35):
Now, I got to ask, since you have experience as
a student too, what are the main concerns that students have?

S5 (10:40):
Some students are concerned that, again, that they're not going
to do well enough, but you just have to reassure
them that just do the work and communicate with your teachers,
which is the big thing. And that's really easy. All
you have to do is email them or call them.
A lot of them have office hours on campus and
you come and say hi. Some are worried about like

(11:02):
the course load. It may be a little more than
a high school class, but the experience is well worth it,
I'd say.

S1 (11:08):
What about students that want to get into the dual
enrollment program but are unsure of the degree that they
want to focus on.

S5 (11:14):
Being able to try different things was amazing. And not
having the pressure of my mom is paying for this class.
I need to stick with it because like I said,
you get 30 free credit hours of dual enrollment now.
And so I hopped around from culinary and then I
did Emerging Technologies where I learned coding and robotics and

(11:36):
how to make video games. And then I went to hotel,
restaurant tourism management, which I finished finished out my degree.
It was great. It's a great experience because a lot
of times when you start college as a traditional student
just out of high school, you have an idea in
your head of what you want to do and you
feel like you have to stick with that. I remember

(11:58):
starting off in culinary and finding out that it wasn't
for me, and I had to have a discussion with
my mom because I was like very afraid that she's
going to be upset because I didn't want to continue
on with this. But she was fine. My mom was great.
She's very supportive and just having that freedom of not
having to like. Be confined by the money, I would

(12:21):
say was really, really helpful.

S1 (12:24):
Can you achieve more with the dual enrollment program at
Athens Tech? It is definitely worth looking into.

S5 (12:30):
Achieve more with Athens Tech through the whole dual enrollment process,
I would say because not only did I end up
getting a job here at Athens Tech, I also learned
many life skills earlier on than if I did not
do dual enrollment. So dual enrollment helped me to achieve
a lot.

S1 (12:50):
Thanks for listening. To achieve more with Athens Tech, the
official podcast of Athens Technical College. For more information on
the dual enrollment program, be sure to visit Athens Tech
dot edu.