Record number of College Credit Plus students earning degrees

Campus News | Monday, May 6, 2019

Columbus State Graduation, May 2019

Just four years after Ohio instituted the College Credit Plus program in 2015, there are impressive completion results at Columbus State Community College. The program allows students in grades 7 - 12 to earn college and high school credits at the same time by taking courses at a college or university.

Many of those students graduate from high school with a semester or more of college credits under their belt. And in the past, there have usually been a few students each year that actually earn a full associate degree the same semester they receive their high school diploma. But this semester, a record 30 students will earn both a diploma from their high school and a college degree from Columbus State.

One of those students is 17-year-old Haylee Adams. She began taking College Credit Plus classes during her freshman year at Hamilton Township High School. She first took English Composition because, she says, “It had always been my favorite subject, but it was a difficult adjustment going from eighth-grade English to college-level English.”

While she says she was “disappointed” getting a B in the class, Haylee persevered and continued taking college-level courses so that she could earn an Associate of Arts degree by the time she graduates from high school.

Haylee has been accepted into the Honors Program at the Ohio State University where she will pursue a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with an eventual goal of a Ph.D.

The Commencement speaker is David Brown, founder and creative director of the Harmony Project in Columbus. Formed in 2009, the Harmony Project connects people across social divides through the arts, education, and volunteer community service.

A record 1,300 students have petitioned to graduate for spring semester. Commencement exercises will be held Friday, May 10, at 10 a.m. at the Celeste Center on the Ohio State Fairgrounds, 717 East 17th Ave., Columbus.

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