Elena 
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Every gathering of Ohio homeschool moms with high school kids eventually focusesI on the College Credit Plus Program and how it impacts their families. The general complaint usually is that the program doesn’t grant homeschoolers enough credits for their students. In fact, it seemed that most of them had only received 4 credits for the semester, which is only enough for one full class and 1/3 of another. Meanwhile, the children of their public school friends received a full year’s worth of credits for the school year.
What is College Credit Plus?
College Credit Plus is Ohio’s Dual Enrollment program. High school students have the opportunity to take classes at a college or university and earn college credit while they are still in high school – FOR FREE! With skyrocketing college costs, it is understandable that parents and students would want to take advantage of this program.
In fact, many families are. In the beginning, I was very opposed to high school students taking classes with adult college students. I blogged about that here. But now there are so many high school students in the program it is really just an extension of high school, at least socially.
But perhaps academically as well.
I know of at least one college chemistry teacher who is providing a college course in a high school who has had to lower the requirements of her course because the students simply were not able to handle the rigors of a college-level class. That’s a topic for another time.
Homeschoolers not given the same amount of credits
My friends were discussing the injustices of the College Credit Plus program as it relates to homeschoolers. They are probably right about that. What’s new? Homeschoolers have always been pushed to the back of the line when it comes to school programs in Ohio. They have only been allowed to participate in extracurricular activities for the past 10 years. Of course, they pay the same property taxes as parents who send their kids to public school, so I’m not sure what the justification is for this – except that the program has become so popular that even the public school kids are scrambling to get the funds they need for these credits.
Homeschool moms are resourceful. A couple of them have put their children in online charter schools hoping to get the credits they wanted. I gather from the discussion, that didn’t meet their expectations. More than a few of my friends have simply given up homeschooling and enrolled their students in the local public school. This is on paper only, as the students are taking all of their classes at a college under the auspices of that public school. On record, they will be graduates of that high school even if they never take a single class there.
Options for getting college credit besides CCP
But what I never heard from any of the moms, not even once, was what they could do to save money on their college tuition other than College Credit Plus.
I have blogged before about the CLEP tests and AP exams. I am still astounded that more parents aren’t aware of these low-cost ways to earn college credit.
But there is another way that I’m sure everyone has heard about – the SAT and the ACT college entrance exams. I know that the CCP parents have heard of them because many of their kids had to take them before being admitted to a college for the CCP programs. But maybe they weren’t aware that many merit scholarship dollars are tied to the ACT and SAT test scores. My college student was awarded $13,000 per year at his college for his ACT score. It wasn’t an extremely high score either but it sure saved him a lot of tuition money.
I contacted the admissions office at the college my son attended yesterday. Their basic merit scholarship starts with an ACT score of just 21. At 24 it jumps up to the top tier of merit scholarships. So this is definitely something to keep in mind.
The administrator I talked to said that GPA is also something they consider. Anyone enrolling high school students in college courses should keep that in mind – a lower GPA will affect the amount of merit scholarships
Why my family is concentrating on good grades and ACT prep over CCP enrollment
For my 12th-grade college-bound daughter, I plan to spend more time preparing her to score well on the ACT. We took a baseline test this year just to see where we stand and what skills she needs to improve on. Without even studying she did pretty good.
I see several advantages to this.
- First, we can continue the homeschool lifestyle that she has thrived in.
- She won’t be exposed to thoughts and ideologies that she is not ready for while she is still a young high school student.
- By focusing on CLEP and AP exams, she can earn the college credits she needs.
- A higher ACT score will help her get scholarships for the rest. That seems like the best option for our family and my particular student.
Here is a video from homeschool dad and educator, Dr. James Stobaugh about ACT and SAT preparation. My son Noah took his World History Course in high school – he is a fantastic teacher.
My son’s A/P in Biology, Chemistry, & Physics was not accepted at his university because his major was Bio/Pre-med. Though, his World History & I think Political Science was accepted as his minor was Political Science. Because he took 4 years of Latin, & more at University, he had a double minor. He starts Family Medicine Residency on Monday in NC.