Concurrent enrollment encouraged by director

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

Dave Throgmorton’s presentation about furthering concurrent and dual enrollment shook the Carbon County District 1 School Board room like an earthquake last week.

“The county is flush with money from the energy boom,” said Throgmorton, Carbon County Higher Education Center director. “We want to use the tax dollars to create vocational, community and K through 12 programs. I really want to blur the line between the reality we see and the reality we’d like to see, between the community and the school.”

At no cost to them, District 1 students could earn an associate’s degree before they graduate high school. To do so, they can enroll in courses that count for high school and college credits simultaneously.

“They save in tuition, fees and books,” said Patty Pedersen, CCHEC’s student services coordinator. “They also save in dorm rooms. And they become prepared for college level courses.”

To dually enroll, students must take a course during an elective period or outside of school hours. Taught by a college professor, the student earns the college credits, but is limited to one elective credit on their high school transcript. Students must pay tuition for this type of enrollment. If they maintain the right grade, the higher education board reimburses the course fees.

Concurrent enrollment, on the other hand, allows students to earn full credit in high school and college by taking a course under what Pedersen called a “high school professor.” The secondary education teacher is a qualified college professor for such classes.

In District 1, Little Snake River Valley School has two teachers who offer concurrent enrollment. Rawlins High School has none.

This semester, Carbon County schools had a total of 24 students concurrently enrolled. Six were enrolled in Baggs and the remainder were in Carbon County School District 2. To compare, Uinta County high schools have 108 concurrently enrolled students and Fremont County high schools have 550.

Throgmorton and Pedersen hope District 1 parents and the school board push to develop the concurrent enrollment in particular, since it has no price tag for anyone involved. It does, however, require teachers to put in the extra work to become college certified and challenge students at the next level.