It is no secret that Cheatham County students can earn a college degree from Austin Peay State University while they are still enrolled in high school, thanks to the dual enrollment program that started in 2018. But what you probably did not know is that to date, about 25 students have participated in the program and three students have earned an associate’s degree from APSU: Hannah Turner and Catie McLachlan from Sycamore High and Brandon Chandler from Cheatham County Central High, according to Tim Adkins, CCSD Director of Communications.
Turner is helping get the word out about her experience with dual enrollment by putting together a short video explaining how the program has helped her get the edge in her path towards becoming a JAG lawyer. She told school officials she wanted to use her video as a recruiting tool to help encourage students to participate. Turner tackled three common misconceptions about dual enrollment in the video, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTR1eTvBjRM&feature=youtu.be
Juniors and seniors at all three high schools in the district have the opportunity to take part in dual enrollment, Adkins said. Under the partnership between APSU and the CCSD, students attend college classes taught by APSU faculty in the mornings at WorkForce Essentials in Ashland City and then return to their high school for lunch and afternoon classes.
Students take college courses and even have the chance to earn an associate’s degree by the end of their senior year of high school. If students wish to earn an associate’s, they need to begin taking classes the summer after completing their sophomore year, he said. If they are not seeking their associate’s degree, students can still earn up to 36 hours of college credit, which would classify them as a college sophomore. They can transfer those hours to APSU or to another college or university, Adkins said.
To enter the program, a student must have a 3.0 high school GPA and earn a 19 in both the English and math subsections of the ACT.
