Most American teenagers describe high school life as not enjoyable, yet they spend most of their waking hours there. Research on American public schools suggests that most classrooms lack intellectual challenges. Therefore, high school administrators should ensure the schools are interesting and rejuvenating.
The College Now Program is a program that offers high school students preliminary courses before joining college institutions. Some of the courses offered include business, communication, social sciences and humanities, political science and statistics, English, reading, writing, and mathematics. The program is charges some fees, and it is credit-bearing.
College Now program recruiters visit students during their junior years at school, engage them during English or Social Studies lessons, and discuss programs offered and procedures. Students may opt to participate in starter orientation courses that will help them get an overview of college learning environments. Enrolled students earn up to 12 credits, especially from the City University of New York (Tsang & Grice, June 2018)
The New York City’s College Now Program permit allows students to earn college credit while in high school. According to The New York Daily News, dual enrollment students score better grades in high school and their first year in college. Therefore, dual enrollment has been embraced by many house school students and adopted by several community colleges.
College Now program is an exciting tool to engage in high schools. The college courses’ exposure helps students adapt with ease as they enroll in college institutions. Introducing colleges’ set of courses informs the student that college is not all about learning but also how they should relate with their professors. In high schools, students depend on teachers to help them solve academic or related issues, while this is not the case in colleges. Hence students are introduced to being independent and accessible through the College Now program.
However, some of these programs don’t utilize the opportunities well since they do not focus on student equality in all areas of life. Students white and wealthier tend to enroll in the program more than their colleagues. Only 8- 13 % of high school students in New York City enrolled for the program in the 2019/2020 academic year (College Now).
From a personal point of view, offering a program with subsidized fees will encourage the participation of middle- and low-class students. The program plays a vital role by facilitating a smooth transition from high school to college. It would have a significant impact if colleges developed policies to encourage more qualified students to enroll in the program, and their skin complexion or lack of finances don’t affect their acceptability.
State governments in the United States have realized the benefits of the college now program (Teachers College). Consequently, they have issued a directive to public and private universes to partner with high schools. The partnership has impacted the schools positively in that the students’ expectations for joining the college with confidence are met.
Most importantly, high school students should be granted these opportunities equally so that no one has regrets when joining college. Through the program, they learn much beyond the skills. They require prospects for topic coverage that give an avenue for opportunities (Tsang & Grice, June 2018). Finally, the multiple channels offered to provide the student with choices to explore which path of college foundational skills to take.
References
Bailey, T., & Jenkins, D. (2022). Opinion: Bailey and Jenkins make a case for expanding CUNY dual enrollment program. Teachers College – Columbia University. Web.
Bailey, T., & Jenkins, D. (2022). College now reimagined: Adams and banks should bolster a program that lets high school kids earn college credit. nydailynews.com. Web.
CollegeNow. (2022). Why Take College Now. CUNY K16 Initiatives. Web.
Tsang, E., & Grice, A. J. (2018). Board 148: Scaling-Up, Institutionalizing, and Sustaining a STEM Talent Expansion Program at University XX. In 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. Web.