Over two dozen Midland Valley High School students have already had the opportunity to put on their cap and gown and receive a post-secondary diploma, thanks to the Early College partnership with Aiken Technical College.
The dual enrollment program, which debuted in 2016 and had its first cohort of students graduate in 2019, puts participating Midland Valley students on an advanced track to earning an associates degree from Aiken Technical College while still in high school. The latest cohort of students participated in commencement on Tuesday, May 5.
“It’s super important because they get ahead in college. They save money, they save time. Moving forward if they go into a four-year program anywhere in the state, our credits are universally transferred so they can start as mid-year, sophomores, or juniors, depending on what they want to do,” Diane Burchett, the dual enrollment coordinator at Aiken Technical College shared. “They get all their general studies out and so they can really go right into what their actual range is.”
Students begin the dual enrollment program in their sophomore year and receive both high school and collegiate credit. Students can take classes on their high school campus with in person, asynchronous or hybrid instruction or off campus at Aiken Technical College.
“In early college, if you do it, you meet a lot of really cool people that you would honestly never meet outside of early college. If you have the opportunity to do it and just do it,” Midland Valley senior Jayce Reeves said.
“I found it interesting because I'm taking a more challenging course load. I thought this would be a good opportunity. I don't regret joining it because the professors have been helpful.” Midland Valley senior Litzy Pineda Flores shared. “I've gotten close with some of them. I've even asked for letters of recommendation from them. It's really been like a big learning opportunity. I got to learn a little bit more about the subject that I really liked, like chemistry. I got to take class on that and do stuff that I probably wouldn't have done in regular high school.”
“I'm really grateful for this opportunity,” Pineda Flores continued. “It's evolved a lot since the start, and I'm glad more people were joining it and getting to have this amazing opportunity.”
