What is Dual Enrollment?
Dual Enrollment 101
Discover the what, why, and how of earning college credit while in high school.
Dual Enrollment is the broad term that means high school students take college coursework while they are enrolled in high school.
Within Dual Enrollment, there are two models for awarding college credit:
- DUAL CREDIT awards both high school credit and college credit for a college course taken by the high school student.
- COLLEGE-CREDIT-ONLY (sometimes referred to as EARLY COLLEGE) awards college credit, but not high school credit, for a college course taken by the high school student.
What we do and why we do it?
Dual Enrollment at Great Falls College MSU is intended to provide a college experience for motivated and academically prepared high school students. Our goal is to let students try college at a significantly less expense in a lower risk environment and gain skills they need to more seamlessly transition to college after high school.
Did you know?
Nearly 500 high school students
*participate in dual enrollment each semester
$0 vs $344 cost
*The first two dual credit classes are free. Additional dual credit classes are just $57/credit vs $115/credit
100+ classes available for dual credit
*our entire class schedule is available for students to choose from
16% higher rate of first year college retention
*students who participate in dual enrollment are more likely to stay in college after their first year
Testimonials
"I felt like I am finally starting to understand this; I’ve got a good feeling from this [DE class]. I wasn’t sure if I was going to start out in college right out of high school and that was kind of like, ‘Yeah, I think I’m ready. I’m ready to start right into college after high school."
“Dual Enrollment has helped me think about what I want to be in the future. I like that I’ve started that process now instead of waiting until I get to college when it’s going to be a lot more expensive to make that choice.”
"[Without DE] I probably would not have been as prepared as I needed to be. I probably would have had a more, I wouldn’t say grim, pessimistic outlook for the semester because in the beginning it was hard. I didn’t have my footing. Every day I went home and I had to get reassurance from my family and friends that it was going to be okay. If I hadn’t taken those [DE] classes, I might have dropped out within the first few weeks.”
"Honestly, I think the dual credit classes helped out SO much. They really did make me think I could handle college, especially after most of my family decided college was too hard…they always said you didn’t need it, but all of the career options I was thinking about did need it, but they pretty much [paused] I always saw them getting entry level jobs and always struggling with money, so I wanted to prove that I could change it and make sure we’re not a struggling family anymore.”
"I became more responsible… I feel like I have matured more as well. Obviously I’ve matured with age, but those [DE] classes really got me into the college mindset that you need to be here. You can’t half be here... You have to be all in."