SDoL students are earning hundreds of college credits every year, thanks to dual enrollment offerings at the high school that have grown more than 10-fold over the past five years.
The district has partnerships with HACC, Millersville University, Eastern Mennonite University, Elizabethtown College and the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design to offer courses in the high school or on the respective campuses at no charge to McCaskey students.
SDoL also offers a fully immersive dual enrollment program at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in which high school seniors are concurrently full-time freshman at the college. When they graduate from high school, these students are just two semesters away from receiving an associate degree that is in high demand in the Pennsylvania job market. There is no charge for McCaskey students in their first year at Thaddeus Stevens through this program.
“These college credits reduce the amount of courses our graduates will have to take—and pay for—once they enroll in post-secondary institutions,” said district superintendent Damaris Rau. “For our students who are first-generation college-goers, successful completion at Dual Enrollment classes provides a boost in confidence as they experience college coursework. They develop a can-do attitude.”
Students taking dual enrollment courses at McCaskey jumped from just 22 in 2015-2016 to 308 so far this year, and that number is expected to increase with spring semester enrollment. In all, students will earn 400+ credits toward postsecondary degrees—all before graduating from high school.