College in High School programs give early experiences
High school students enrolled in College in High School programs get all the rigor of college classwork while taking high school-level classes alongside them.
Students can pay to earn college credit while taking college courses at their home schools, which an area high school principal said is just one rewarding aspect of participating in CHS courses.
“CHS courses give our students an opportunity to challenge themselves with rigorous coursework, while they still have the support of their parents and faculty here at the high school,” said Mars Area High School principal Lindsay Rosswog. “It may end up being the first time a student struggles — and to be able to figure out how to navigate a college-level course with extra support, instead of in college when they may be on their own — allows them to develop the skills needed to be successful in college or employment.”
High schools across Butler County offer dual enrollment or CHS programs that students can take in their home schools, but Butler County Community College also offers an Early Pioneers program, where students can take college classes on its campus. Hundreds of students are enrolled across the county, with some taking CHS classes in their home schools and others traveling to BC3 for coursework.
Brian White, superintendent of the Butler Area School District, said both options give students an opportunity to either challenge themselves with more difficult coursework, or try a college-level course while still having a bit of a safety net.
“Particularly for students who are the first to go to school in their family, it’s a good path for some kids,” White said. “The benefit is clearly allowing high school students to experience the rigor of college courses — the Early Pioneers program allows them to be on a college campus and experience that.”
In the spring semester of 2024, 563 high school students enrolled in BC3 courses, for a total of 2,203 College in High School credits over the semester.
High school faculty or staff members approved to teach BC3’s College Within the High School courses have submitted a professional application to the college, had their credentials reviewed and are authorized adjunct BC3 faculty members. Several BC3 courses instructed on the college’s main campus are taught by BC3 faculty members or administrators.
Classes at participating high schools, regardless of county, cost $420 per class. BC3 is reviewing a possible reduction in the cost of tuition and fees for the 2025-26 academic year, according to a fact sheet about the program.
While BC3 has a large high school enrollment base in Butler County, schools like Knoch and Mars Area high schools have partnerships with La Roche College, and Knoch offers some University of Pittsburgh classes as well. Slippery Rock Area School District has agreements with Robert Morris University and the University of Pittsburgh.
According to Todd Trofimuk, principal at Knoch, teachers who lead CHS courses in the school have to be approved by whatever college they are teaching the class for before they can do it.
“(Teachers) have to have a master's, as well as have taught that particular content for five years,” Trofimuk said. “They have a process to submit through La Roche. The college will approve or disapprove the person.”
Students who take CHS courses can take them as regular classes at their high school or pay the respective college they are offered through to earn the credits toward a college degree.
“We have over 700 enrollments in those 16 courses,” Rosswog said. “Some students are taking multiple CHS courses each year. It is the student and family’s choice if they are taking the course for college credit or not.”
Susan Miller, assistant superintendent of Slippery Rock Area School District, said the high school offers a few options to students who want to take college-level courses early.
“We offered Statistics and American Politics via Pitt, and Marketing through RMU,” Miller said. “In addition, we offer our students the opportunity to enroll in dual-enrollment opportunities, like Slippery Rock University’s fast-track program.”
Michael May, vice president for enrollment management at SRU, said while the college has a fast-track program for high-schoolers, many opt to take classes at area community colleges with similar offerings.
“Many students take advantage of the excellent value offered by the high-quality community colleges that are nearby,” May said, “such as Butler County Community College, Community College of Allegheny County and Community College of Beaver County.”
Students can take several CHS courses during their high school careers, as long as they maintain a good grade-point average. If they can keep up with their high school and college classes, students can get ahead in their college careers as well.
Michael Stimac, principal at Karns City Area Jr./Sr. High School, said some students have been able to effectively start college with the number of credits equal to a typical college sophomore.
“All in all, the BC3 partnership has offered our students countless opportunities to accelerate, while also saving them significant money,” Stimac said.
Jon McKay, a social studies teacher at Butler Senior High School, teaches a CHS sociology class this semester that has 16 students enrolled, with a majority of those students earning college credit. He said the class was made up of smart and talkative students, who were regularly engaged with the topics he covers in the course.
CHS courses even have allowed students to take on less college debt, thanks to fees for the courses being generally less expensive at the high school level, according to Rosswog.
“We have had students who have been able to graduate a semester, or even a full year early from college because of the CHS credits they earned here at Mars,” Rosswog said. “The savings that allows for the students is amazing since the CHS cost is typically much less than full tuition.”
Justin Walls graduated from Knoch in 2022, and after taking several CHS courses during his high school career, he is preparing to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in December. He is enrolled at the Community College of Beaver County and at Southern Illinois University.
Starting his junior year, Walls took college courses online in the morning before heading to his normal high school classes, and he said he found the workload to be manageable.
“Because they were online, it was a whole different type of school. It’s not totally comparable, but it does sort of give you a broad idea of what to expect,” Walls said. “Overall, it worked very well, just because they helped with my schedule and what worked for me.”
The move to take college courses in high school paid off for Walls, who will search for employment sooner than his peers of the same age.
“Rather than having to get these credits later down the line, it saved me a ton of money,” Walls said. “I’m graduating early compared to a lot of my peers.”
