High School Connections: Earning College Credit in High School
Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC) offers a variety of college credit-earning options for high school students. In partnership with high schools and community partners, innovative strategies have been implemented – and are continually emerging – to allow high school students to begin college and prepare for a career while in high school. Courses are free to students saving students thousands of dollars in tuition every year.
Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO)
Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) is a program that allows 10th, 11th, and 12th-grade students to earn both high school and college credit while still in high school, through enrollment in and successful completion of college-level courses. PSEO courses are offered primarily on the RCTC campus and online. PSEO courses are taught exclusively by RCTC college faculty.
Concurrent Enrollment is a program that provides 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th-grade students with the opportunity to take college-credit-bearing courses taught by college-approved high school teachers on the high school campus. CE courses are offered primarily on the high school’s campus. CE courses are taught by appropriately credentialed and approved high school faculty.
Articulation Agreements between RCTC and area high schools provide students the ability to earn full or partial credit toward career and technical programs for specific courses taken at the high school.
The Sophomore Honors Program allows a high school sophomore to take an advanced course in a particular subject area in which the student has already exhausted all offerings at the high school. For example, an advanced math course, an advanced computer science course, an advanced technical course, or some other advanced course unavailable at the high school and not available through Sophomore PSEO.
The Early/Middle College Program at RCTC allows students who are currently enrolled in a partnered Alternative Learning Center the opportunity to earn college credit towards a high school diploma and an Associate’s degree.
High School Connections: Special Programs and Services Providing a Pathway to RCTC
The College Transition Advisor’s (CTA) role is to work on-site at the high school with prospective students’ transition from high school to post-secondary education and careers during their senior year. The CTA helps facilitate and foster relationships between high school students and staff of selected local high schools and RCTC.
Jamie Johnson is currently serving Century, John Marshall, and Mayo. You can email Jamie at Jamie.johnson@rctc.edu.
Tiffany Betcher is currently serving Plainview-Elgin-Millville, Goodhue, and St. Charles high schools. Please ask at your high school counseling office for her days, times, and location or email Tiffany at Tiffany.Betcher@rctc.edu.
The Summer Bridge Program seeks to attract, support, and retain graduates from Century High School, John Marshall High School, Mayo High School, and Rochester ALC who possess the desire to attend RCTC without yet having achieved the necessary college-level skills in reading, writing, and/or math. RCTC believes strongly in the capabilities of these students and offers the Summer Bridge Program as a supportive introductory environment for those who choose to attend RCTC. The program is designed to help ease the students’ adjustment to college life and build a foundation for academic success.
This is an opportunity for Rochester Public School or other high school students to enroll in the RCTC Nursing program the following Fall immediately after high school! Typically, admission for all, including this year’s high school seniors, is based on a “point system” that precludes any current high school seniors from admission. The STAT Program admission criteria does not use this point system. As many as five seats in the fall semester and five in the spring semester are available for qualified students from area high school classes of 2020. These seats will be competitive to attain, but you will not be competing with “point system” students – only other current area high school seniors from the class of 2020. For more information contact RCTC Nursing Program Advisor, Jennifer Dahle at Jennifer.Dahle@rctc.edu.
RCTC has been contracting for PSEO with several school districts since 2002. We are currently serving 18 area school districts. PSEO Contracting saved over $100,000 a year for one district. As little as $300 for another. The average savings of our 18 current contracts was just under $19,000 per district/per year. We follow all existing laws, allocations, payment formulas, and intentions. Contracting for PSEO will likely save most high schools some money.
We can do an assessment based on your high school’s current per-pupil financial allocation from the Minnesota Department of Education to determine if there is a financial benefit to your high school in contracting PSEO services with RCTC. In these tough economic times, we have to capture any and all funding we can for the education of our students. Every dollar helps!
Interested superintendents should contact Dale Amy, Director of High School Collaborations at Dale.Amy@rctc.edu for more information.
Collaboration Among Rochester Educators
The partnership between Rochester Public Schools and Rochester Community and Technical College
The CARE vision is to…
Develop collaborative programs that provide pathways to college and career opportunities while enhancing learning experiences for students.
Our primary focus is the students of Rochester Public Schools that choose Rochester Community and Technical College as a pathway in their educational and career endeavors.
We share in the vision for student success and recognize the direct positive relationship between the educational nurturing of students and the well-being of their communities, regions and the state as a whole. Funding for CARE programming comes as a direct result of contracting for PSEO services yet we are exploring the possibilities of grant writing for additional funding. We’re adamant about a continuing commitment to this effort. Together, we are helping students grow and succeed – Because we CARE.
Some of the programs/projects and initiatives supported and funded by CARE dollars include the following:
- Summer Bridge Program
- Medical Careers Program
- CTECH
- College Transition Advisor
- Career Course Resource Guide
- PSEO Course Guide
- Course Articulation Agreements
- Course Integration Agreements
- Concurrent Enrollment
- STAT Nursing Program
- Sophomore Honors Program
- Early/Middle College Program
- FYEX Project
- Math for College Program
- Math Matters Grant
- Shared Facilities Agreement
- Shared Staff Development Opportunities