High school students earn college credit in many ways:
Dual enrollment: A course offered by a high school and a local college. Taught at the high school or on the college campus. Options range from biology and psychology to culinary arts and auto detailing.
Advanced Placement: National program offered in most Nebraska and Iowa high schools. Offers academic course work in subjects such as U.S. history and calculus. Most colleges grant credit when students earn a certain score on an exam after completing the course.
International Baccalaureate: International program offered in Millard and Lincoln school districts; Omaha Central High is seeking to offer it. Students take courses in six core areas over their last two years of high school. Can earn an IB diploma that often translates to as much as a year of college credit.
Career academies: Offered in several metro districts, which partner with a local college. Students focus on one career area, such as culinary arts, auto body or computer programming. Offered at the high school or on a college campus.
Early College: Millard is considering a program in which juniors and seniors earn a general education associate's degree, along with a high school diploma. Nationally, the program targets low-income students or the first-generation college-bound.
Middle College: OPS allows a small number of students to take classes at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Students are talented but may struggle in a regular high school. They take both high school and college-level courses.
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