13th Grade Offers Some Teens an Easier Transition to College

Some teens are staying in high school for an extra year for 13th grade to earn associate degrees or substantial college credits for free or at a reduced cost.

"It allows students to get that head start in college in a way that provides support," says Elisabeth Barnett, an expert on high school to college transition at Teachers College, Columbia University, on the emergence of five-year high schools.

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Some five-year programs can be found in early college high schools -- a type of school that offers a combined curriculum of both high school and college courses. Classic early college high schools are located on or near college campuses, says Barnett. In four or five years a student could earn an associate degree.

Admissions into these schools varies, she says, but generally students have to apply or they might have to be selected in a lottery to attend this type of public school.

"It's different from your normal high school experience and that's good," says Morgan Whitman, 18, a fifth-year student at Duplin Early College High School in Kenansville, North Carolina, who had to apply to attend the school. "There's no drama, there's none of that kind of stuff. You're all grown up and mostly you're all family."

As a fifth-year student, all of her classes are held at the community college located on the same campus as her high school, she says. She's required to go to her high school occasionally to check in with her teachers and attend a weekly senior seminar on the college-going process.

Throughout her high school years, she has taken both high school and college courses, and participated in activities at both institutions. This year, she'll graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate degree at no cost to her, she says.

Typically these programs are geared toward underserved students, such as those who are the first in their families to go to college, says Barnett. The extra support from the high school team is supposed to help students persist and succeed in college, she says.

Most students who enroll in community college don't graduate with a degree in a reasonable amount of time, federal data show.

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But 13th grade hasn't been limited to distinct early college high schools. Some traditional high schools are starting to offer fifth-year programs where a high schooler could choose to stay for an extra year and take free or cheaper college courses, says Barnett.

In Oregon, for example, a number of high schools are allowing students to technically remain a high school student for a fifth year so that the district can give these students funding to attend their first year of community college for free, according to local news reports.

As in the early college high schools, districts typically offer resources to students to help them stay on track during their first year of college.

Whitman says she's not as nervous for college because she's already been exposed to the academic and social sides of campus life.

"Normally people don't have that experience. They go to school with people they've known their whole life," she says. "I think that prepared me as far as being social because I was one of those that was really shy and I've come out of my shell a lot."

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Alexandra Pannoni is an education staff writer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com.