As Julia prepares to complete her homeschool high school studies this spring, she’s also about to earn her certificate in Data Analytics from Nashua Community College this summer.
“I knew that you could do Dual Enrollment while in high school, and that you could even get two STEM classes for free,” Julia said, speaking in May 2023.
Dual Enrollment programs offer college-level classes for
college and high school credit. Students can choose from Early
College, classes taught by college instructors either online or on the
college campus; Running
Start, classes taught by high school instructors at the student’s high
school; and eStart,
100% online college courses.
Dual Enrollment Scholarship
With the New Hampshire Governor’s STEM Scholarship, high school students in Dual Enrollment courses can take up to two STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) or CTE (Career and Technical Education) courses per academic year for free.
“So I did that the first semester, and I kept increasing classes, until it was all I was doing.” With five semesters of Dual Enrollment, Julia said she took 6 classes covered by the scholarship, and 61 credits of college classes overall.
Data Analytics
Julia took courses that satisfied high school and college credit, and eventually started building toward her certificate in Data Analytics.
“I’ve always been interested in Statistics and Probability, and I like graphs, so I decided to start the data analytics certificate program.” Beyond the scope of Data Analytics classes, she enrolled in other classes including psychology, nutrition for health and fitness, macroeconomics, microeconomics, personal finance, and calculus I.
College Experience
“I liked the classes, I liked it more than my other homeschool classes. There’s no schedule that’s set up already for homeschool classes, and having the schedule was motivating; and I liked that I was able to get a head start on college,” she said. Dual Enrollment classes come in a range of formats, and Julia elected to take online classes.
She said she would recommend the experience to other high school students, “As long as you were able to keep holding yourself accountable and stay on schedule, it’s a great way to get ahead in high school and earn college credits.”
Julia heard of the Dual Enrollment program through her parents, and said she hoped other students are aware of the opportunity.
“I think that Dual Enrollment should be talked about more, especially in your freshmen and sophomore year, so you can start it at a younger age.”
Next, Julia is heading to her undergraduate program – either in New Hampshire or Utah. “I’m deciding between Plymouth State and Weber State in Utah. I’m planning on majoring in math, and I am going to get a master’s in data science.”
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