Shannon McGraw, Butler guidance counselor and College Technology Prep coordinator, said students will be able to fit courses for college credit around their many other activities because of the high school's new program with Indiana (Pa.) University.

BUTLER TWP — Come this fall, Butler High School students will have the opportunity to simultaneously be IUP students.

The dual enrollment program, approved earlier this year, will allow Butler students to earn college credits from the Indiana (Pa.) University at up to a 75 percent discount.

“We provide a pretty rigorous curriculum here (at Butler), but it really provides an opportunity to kind of bolster what we’re offering,” said Brian Slamecka, Butler assistant superintendent. “All of the classes would be instructed through IUP’s staff.”

The focus will be on classes that currently aren’t offered at Butler. Anthropology, foreign language and more advanced physics courses have been discussed, but a confirmed list of IUP class offerings for the fall won’t be available until summer.

After students pass a placement exam and take a tour of the IUP campus, they will be allowed to enroll in college classes. In addition to receiving college credit, students can receive elective credit at the high school level. Students will likely have evening classes or be able to take the classes at their leisure.

“A lot of it, it sounds like, will be online. And there will be main campus courses, and also satellite campus courses,” said Shannon McGraw, a Butler guidance counselor and College Technology Prep coordinator.

Butler School District also has partnerships with Butler County Community College and Carlow University, although those programs work a bit differently from the IUP program.

“What’s nice about this is that they can do it at their leisure. So summer, fall class in the evening, spring class in the evening,” McGraw said. “Because it’s online, for the most part, they can take it in addition to everything they’re doing with us.”