Wake up at 5 a.m., drive to the gym, jump on the transit and head straight to class at Frederick Community College. While this might sound like your typical college student routine, these efforts are also made every semester by many dedicated high school dual enrollment students.
Erick Mendez, 16, is a junior at Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick and regularly commutes to FCC for instruction. “I thought, why not challenge myself more?” said Erick, “I decided I would challenge myself plenty more with dual enrollment. I’m proud of myself because I’m staying more active with my classes, and I’m happier.”
He is currently enrolled as a STEM Technology major in the Early College program. Early College allows high school students to simultaneously earn an associate degree from FCC and a high school diploma from Frederick County Public Schools.
Lauryn Laurant, 16, also a junior from GTJHS, said she has enjoyed her Early College experience.
“I didn’t expect to meet so many nice people,” she said, “I knew there was going to be some semblance of better opportunity here at FCC, but I didn’t expect such a wide variety like the Honors college program that I’m really invested in.”
Lauryn majors in social sciences and claims that she benefits more from the extra academic resources that weren’t available at high school. Both Erick and Lauryn plan to complete their bachelor’s degree at a four-year university. Lauryn aspires to be a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State.
However, Early College isn’t the only Dual Enrollment option FCC offers to high school students. Career Pathways provide the opportunity for students to earn industry or state certifications for good livable wage jobs upon high school graduation. Then there’s Open Campus dual enrollment, an opportunity that allows high school students to enroll in FCC courses that can be taken at the campus itself or online.
“Open campus has existed for decades,” explained Elizabeth Duffy, the executive director of Dual Enrollment at FCC, “And about 11 years ago Senate Bill 740 was passed where counties were tasked to working with community colleges to create additional opportunities. At that time, students who participated in free and reduced meals had their tuition waved and high school based was completely free because the school system bought the textbooks.”
High school based is the most popular dual enrollment option and according to statistics provided by FCC dual enrollment, more than 1,500 students (Fall 2022) are taking FCC college courses at their high school. Duffy also adds that students, specifically 11th graders, tend to enroll in a combination of open campus and high school-based classes.
Last year, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation allowed for dual enrollment tuition across the state to be free. Data from FCC dual enrollment shows that there was a 28% increase of Frederick County dual enrollment students over the past year following the announcement.
“I’m very excited that students have this opportunity,” Duffy said, “Student debt is crushing so many people in this country. This is a way to help students get started with their goals without being burdened with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.” Prior to the legislation, there was still a steady increase in FCC dual enrollment since the spring semester of 2017 (spring 2020 being the exception), which Duffy believes is because of students’ desire to escape the traditional high school work week and to challenge themselves further.
As for the future of dual enrollment, Duffy said, “I think there are going to be ways to expand (overall dual enrollment) especially given blueprint, but it’s something that FCC doesn’t do by themselves, we do it in collaboration with our FCPS partners.”
