Ohio’s College Credit Plus (CCP) Program – formerly known as Post-Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) Program – is in full-swing at Clark State Community College. This spring four Clark State students graduated from high school and also earned their two-year associate degrees.

Not only do CCP students get a head-start on a college degree, they also save money. The state-funded CCP Program allows students to earn college credits while in high school at no cost. Students can enroll in courses at Clark State and receive credit for high school requirements and for college credit. These credits may be used at Clark State or for transfer to the college or university of choice after high school graduation. “Students don’t pay lab fees or testing fees,” said Dr. Jo Alice Blondin, president of Clark State, “and they save on the cost of books.”

Blondin said recent calculations indicate that the CCP Program at Clark State has saved high school students and families more than 17,052 credit hours.

"Clark State's College Credit Plus Program has saved regional high school students and their families nearly $2.4 million in college tuition for the 2015-16 academic year,” said Dr. Blondin. “A savings-amount that is up from $1.8 million in the 2014-15 academic year."

Bellefontaine City Schools in Logan County has been offering College Credit Plus courses to students since the 1998-99 academic year. The school currently offers 22 CCP courses and 201 students are enrolled in the program.

“We expect this number to grow as we continue to add CCP courses and also try to increase the amount of BHS students that are taking CCP courses,” said Christine Galvin, director of instruction for Bellefontaine City Schools. “We had a student earn 60 semester hours of credit while still a BHS student.”

Galvin said CCP has benefitted the students in several ways. “Many of our students are able to begin their college career as sophomores due to our CCP offerings which is a huge cost savings to our families,” she said. “It also offers our students rigorous coursework which better prepares them for their post-secondary education and future careers.”

Galvin said the high school has had a positive response to the program, and it continues to grow. “In the 2014-15 school year, we had 323 total CCP courses taken by BHS students. That number has increased to 592 for the 2015-16 school year,” she said. “The total number of semester hour credit earned in 2014-15 was 1,367.  For 2015-16 it grew to 2,160 which averages out to about 10.75 credit hours per student for the year.”

Clark State graduate Bethia Bolton of Xenia, Ohio, began taking classes at Clark State in the fall of 2012, her freshman year of high school. She earned an Associate of Arts this spring and graduated from The Ohio Connections Academy high school at the same time. She plans to pursue a four-year degree in middle-childhood education with a focus on math and social studies.

Bolton said taking the classes during high school was beneficial because it improved her high school work quality, too. “Taking college classes exposed me to the wisdom of a variety of ages of students, not to mention the professors, because of all of the discussions that I had both inside the classroom and in the online setting.”

Bolton said she would recommend College Credit Plus at Clark State to other students. “Don’t be deterred from doing this just because the college classes seem big and daunting, because they aren’t as bad as you might think,” she said. “I would recommend to those that are considering College Credit Plus not to take too many classes at once because you will burn yourself out, but do take advantage of this opportunity because I guarantee it is worth all of the work. You’ll have fun along the way.”

Clark State graduate Frederick Lacey of Beavercreek also earned his Associate of Science degree and graduated from Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) this spring.

He started College Credit Plus courses in 2012 and will attend the University of Cincinnati in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in medical sciences. “College Credit Plus made me a much more qualified candidate for four-year universities while making my course load lighter thanks to credit transfer,” said Lacey. “I would recommend College Credit Plus to any student willing to put in the time and the effort. The program is a wonderful chance to get a head start on your future.

Learn more about the College Credit Plus Program.