21 Hopewell High School seniors graduate with an associate degree along with their diploma

PETERSBURG – A total of 21 seniors from Hopewell High School graduated with an associate degree alongside their high school diploma this year.

In partnership with the Richard Bland College of William and Mary, Hopewell High School students are able to enroll into dual enrollment courses and receive college credit upon completion.

The dual enrollment classes are completely free for the students who may start their degree process during their sophomore or junior year, according to Stephanie Poe, principal of Hopewell High School.

Poe described the degree process as a great opportunity for students to potentially earn their associate degree without having to pay for any classes.

“I know when my kids went to high school, I had to pay for them to take these level of classes and to be able to offer this to kids where they don’t have any kind of cost involved is so amazing to me,” Poe said. “It just shows that one more thing that Hopewell does for our kids.”

Students are able to choose from a wide variety of courses such as foreign languages, fine arts, world culture, business classes and more.

Not all students who take dual enrollment courses enter into the associate degree path, Poe said.

A total of 60 credits are required for students to obtain their associate degree. They can then be transferred to their college and possibly knock off up to two years, allowing them to save money on tuition, according to Poe. Though not all colleges may be able to accept these credits.

The students who graduate with their associate degree and high school diploma do not seem to struggle as much when they enter college, because of the heavier workload and higher expectations they experienced from their dual enrollment courses, Poe said.

To stay in the program, students are required to maintain a 3.0 GPA.

“If they’re not, then we’re putting them in something that’s too difficult and that’s not going to benefit them in the long run,” Poe said.

On average, about 25-30 students enter into the degree program, according to Poe.

Tanaeya Crawford, a senior who graduated from Hopewell High School with her associate degree, said she decided to go on this route to save money and explore college level courses.

“I really wanted to get a peek of what it would be like when I go into further college,” Crawford said.

For Crawford, the process started during her last year of middle school. Students at her middle school were given the opportunity to take a placement test to determine if they were a good fit for the program.

From there, she began taking dual enrollment courses in her sophomore year of high school, citing her two favorite classes being psychology and sociology.

Crawford said she recommends younger students to take this degree path to save time and money on tuition.

“Being that I was able to do the dual enrollment program, I’m going in as either a sophomore or junior,” Crawford said. “It’ll basically take you less years to get your bachelor’s or master’s so I definitely recommend it to some of my underclassmates.”

Crawford plans to study psychology at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and hopes to be a therapist, psychologist or a band teacher in the future.

Anna Chen is an award-winning student journalist and the news intern for The Progress-Index. Reach her at achen@gannett.com or contact her on Twitter @annasummerchen.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Hopewell High School seniors graduate with diploma and associate degree