WA state needs to allow more high school students to earn college credits for free | Opinion

I have been an educator in a rural central Washington community for more than 20 years. I have taught many students who don’t see themselves as belonging in college. I also have witnessed the absolute transformation in confidence, identity, and sense of possibility that happens when those students earn their first college credits while in high school. It opens their worlds. It tells them that they belong, they can handle the work, and the future is there for the taking.

At Zillah High School, where I currently serve as the principal and previously taught at for 17 years, students can access more than 100 college credits through our College in the High School program. Students earn both high school and college credit at the same time. We offer courses ranging from English 101 to Agriculture Mechanics.

Zillah’s selection of College in the High School courses is specifically designed to help students meet general education requirements at the college level and provide specialized opportunities for students with a declared career path. Instructors and curriculum in these courses are reviewed and approved by the partnering universities and colleges to ensure that they meet the same accreditation standards as the equivalent courses on their campuses. In short, the courses are rigorous, relevant, and the credits students earn are transferable.

But there is a catch.

Students in Zillah and across the state must pay to receive college credit for most of the College in the High School courses they take. Students who can afford to pay receive credit. Students who can’t afford it, don’t. A large number of students enrolled in our College in the High School courses do all the work necessary but do not receive college credit only because they can’t pay. This is a stark inequity in our public education system.

Fortunately, there is a solution before the state legislature that would change the future trajectory of so many of my students and those around the state. Senate Bill 5048 eliminates the fees required to earn college credit through the College in the High School programs statewide. When a student completes the work, they automatically earn college credit to apply to the certificate, two- or four-year program they choose. The state then reimburses the college or university for the credit costs. High school students won’t have to pay if this important bill passes.

Job opportunities increasingly demand skills and training beyond high school. In fact, an estimated 70% of the jobs in Washington are filled by workers with post-secondary credentials. But post-secondary enrollment declined markedly through the pandemic. Between Fall 2019 and Fall 2022, enrollment at Washington’s public colleges and universities fell by 70,000 students. That’s equivalent to an entire Washington state high school graduating class not pursuing education or training after high school. This is a paradigm we must turn around if our students are going to be prepared for the future that awaits.

As a state, and in our own communities, we must do everything we can to give our students the best shot at achieving their dreams and succeeding in the jobs being created. Dual-credit and dual- enrollment programs like College in the High School have a proven record of getting more students – particularly those least well-served by the education system — on track to completing the post-high school certificates, apprenticeships, and degrees they need.

I have worked at the intersection between K-12 and higher education my entire career. Removing College in the High School fees would create generational change and is one of the most transformative policy changes I can think of for Washington students.

This story was originally published April 12, 2023 at 1:50 PM.