Dual Credit Partnership

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Earning College Credits While in High School

Under a new program offered by the UW-River Falls, high school students can earn both college and high school credit in a single class. The UWRF Dual Credit Partnership involves a high school teacher and college faculty working together to provide college courses in a convenient setting.

All courses are delivered in a hybrid format – using both face-to-face class meetings and online course tools – so school districts can enjoy ultimate scheduling flexibility. Courses may be offered to fit either a semester or block class schedule.

And, because the costs to offer the classes are shared between partners, the tuition for college credit is substantially reduced. Initial development and launch of this innovative program was funded in part by a grant from the University of Wisconsin-System.

How It Works

The true advantage of the Dual Credit Partnership is that the university and the high school work together to provide this educational opportunity to high school students. Each member has important responsibilities.

The High School Teacher will:

Manage the face-to-face component of the class
Lead class discussions and activities, answer questions and comment on online discussions with students
Coach students with time management skills appropriate for a college course
Administer quizzes, tests and labs, when applicable
Arrange computer access

The UWRF Faculty will:

Develop course content including syllabus and list of class materials, if necessary
Upload the content to an online course management system (Desire2Learn)
Monitor, respond to and grade all online student discussions
Provide aid and consultation to the high school teacher
Grade assignments in cooperation with high school teacher

Costs to Participate

District partners will pay UWRF $200 per credit for each student in a course — a savings of more than $50 off standard college tuition. In return for your staff’s contribution to instruction, we will rebate your district $100 per student for a three-credit course or $133 for a four-credit course with lab.

High school students will also have access to the college textbook rental service provided to all UWRF undergraduate students. Textbook rental is $9 per credit and books can be mailed directly to the school.

Some Districts may elect to provide a cost-sharing arrangement with the student’s families to cover all or part of the tuition. Any such arrangement would be strictly the responsibility of the school or district to implement.

Course Schedule and Enrollment

A typical three-credit course would meet face to face with the high school teacher at least one day per week with a second day required for a course with a lab. The actual schedule would be arranged by both the high school and university faculty.

Minimum preferred enrollment is 10 students per class but exceptions may be made with approval from the university instructor. Schools in close proximity may chose to enroll students in the same course and schedule the face-to-face, weekly meeting together at a mutually convenient time and location. A designated instructor from one school must be present at all face-to-face class meetings.

Benefits to the Student

Class content, while at the university level, is specifically designed for high school students.
Hybrid model of face-to-face and online content provides a bridge to developing the discipline and time management skills critical to succeed in college.
University faculty may provide more diverse, technical and advance content than available at the high school level.
Classroom activities provide a “social” context to the course content that’s often missing from online classes.
Tuition is discounted from traditional tuition rates for college credit.
Students can begin their college career with college credits in hand.

Course Offerings

The following courses were chosen based on input from area high school principals and counselors because they are not typically offered in high schools and would work well in this format. In addition, these courses fulfill general education requirements at most universities.

Fall 2013 and Spring 2014

Select catalog number to see course descriptions.

Introduction to Art (ART 100), 3 credits

Introduction to Environmental Studies (ESM 105) 3 credits

Introduction to Geology, plus Lab (GEOL 101 and GEOL 102) 4 credits

Introduction to Theater and Drama (THEA 105) 3 credits

Science of Food (FDSC 110) 3 credits

International Economic Issues (ECON 150) 3 credits

Getting Started

Partnering with UW-River Falls to provide college credit to your students is easy. Contact us mail today and we’ll send you a complete packet of information to get you started.

Determine which Dual Credit Partnership classes above would interest your students.
Begin recruiting teachers and students by sharing information about the available courses and costs throughout your district and schools. Make sure your school counselor and school principal are aware of the program.
School counselors must submit student registration information by November 15 for Spring term and July 1 for Fall term classes.
Select a teacher from your staff to be the onsite instructor and submit their qualifications by the dates listed above. Each teacher will need to be approved by the department and university as an ad hoc instructor.

Admissions

Once a school has signed on to participate in this program, their students will receive specific instructions on how to apply and register for classes.

Students will apply online using the University of Wisconsin System application form and must meet the admission requirements for special or temporary undergraduate students. On the application form, students will indicate that they are taking classes under the "Dual Credit Partnership" program. There is no admission fee for this application.

Once students are admitted to the university, they will be registered for their class by their school counselor or administrator.