As parents begin to consider educational options for the high school years, they often begin to ask about dual enrollment at a community college or university. On the surface, it appears that this is a tremendous opportunity. First, it's free. Second, it's possible to complete the same classes for both high school and college credit. And third, it holds out the promise of providing academic challenges and opportunities for those inclined to pursue them.
So, this sounds like an offer you can't refuse. However, at Providence Extension Program (PEP), we believe that you should not be so quick to rush to judgment. There are some other issues that you will want to carefully consider as you consider options for educating your high school aged student.
Let's begin by asking a few questions. Why did you choose to participate in a home-based education? What were your goals? What were you hoping to see accomplished in your child's life?
For Christian home educators, the answers to these questions usually are something like:
“I wanted my child to receive a Christian education,” “I wanted to be more involved in my child's life and be there for the 'teachable moments' that will come up,” “I wanted to provide an education that would equip my child to live as a Christian and to make wise, Biblically-grounded decision” “I wanted my child to be academically challenged.”
While these are the most popular reasons that parents choose a home-based education for their teens, doubts and fears often cloud these original motivations. Some of these are:
"Will my child be able to get into college?” "How can I challenge my child academically when he has grown past my ability to teach him?” "How will we be able to afford college?” “How will my child succeed in a college environment?” “Why shouldn't my child take advantage of the opportunity to take college classes that will cost him nothing?” “ How can I justify paying for high school when I can get high school and college for free?”
These are all reasonable questions. At PEP, we believe that we can answer these questions. Before we do that, let's return to the original motivations for parents choosing to participate in a home-based educational option and see how PEP can help you accomplish these desires.
Our belief is that you will not find these benefits at the local community college or university. In fact, we believe that the evidence for rejecting the dual enrollment is compelling.
College dual enrollment will not provide a Christian Education. We say this at the risk of stating the obvious. Among Christian home educators, the number one reason for choosing to educate your child at home is to give them a Christian education. This will not be provided at a government run, secular institution. Many of the instructors have an anti-Christian bias. Certainly, there is a time when it may be appropriate for your child to encounter such bias However, we would argue that it would be better to continue to equip your child to interact Biblically with such a bias during the high school years.
College dual enrollment will not facilitate you being significantly involved in your child's life and education and be there for teachable moments. Legally, if a student is eighteen years of age, the public college or university has no accountability to parents. In terms of communication, helping students, and providing immediate feedback, college professors and instructors are not set up to do this. Test grades may be the most personal form of communication a student has from a professor or instructor, and often they come weeks after the test was given.
College dual enrollment will not equip your child to live as a Christian and provide him with the tools to make Biblically grounded decisions. In contrast, dual enrollment will bring your child into a context where the Lordship of Christ is denied in virtually every sphere.
College dual enrollment often does not live up to the promise of providing academic challenge. Community college and freshman and sophomore university classes often are not academically challenging to the well-prepared high school student.
College dual enrollment is not realistic preparation for life. What if your child succeeds above all expectations, completes two years of college while in high school, and graduates from college at nineteen or twenty? It's not far-fetched to imagine. Consider this: what kind of “real world” responsibility is an employer going to give a nineteen or twenty year old, even if he is a college graduate? And, at what cost? We would argue that the very desires that you had for your child when you set out to home educate is the price that is paid for an achievement of questionable merit.
Now you may be saying, “well, all of this sounds good, but what am I going to do about getting my child into college and paying for it?”
Most of PEP's home-educated graduates have been accepted at multiple colleges. Our vision is to fulfill the Great Commission by teaching secondary age students to think Biblically, reason logically, communicate persuasively and to think as free men. Our rigorous college preparatory curriculum gives solid preparation for being accepted into and succeeding at leading colleges and universities.
Many of PEP's graduates have received substantial scholarships at leading institutions of learning. The experience of our families has been that investing the last two years of secondary education has paid off, not only by students being better prepared for college than if they had dual-enrolled but financially as well.
PEP's integrated core curriculum will provide your child with the foundation to be well-prepared for life. PEP features a Humanities Core curriculum that brings knowledge together across the disciplines with the Bible as the integrating point and foundation of all learning.
PEP provides a discipleship model of education. We seek to unite scholarly discipline with Christian nurture. As Christians, we are interested in far more than the transmission of information. Our desire is to partner with parents to help students grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our tutors work closely with parents and students and are able to provide personal encouragement and accountability.
PEP follows the Classical model of education. Not only are students given information, but they learn to answer the “why” questions and the “how” questions. Our Humanities Core A and B classes focus on origins – in Scripture, history, and literature – the “what”. Our Core C Humanities focuses on examination of worldview, of assumptions – on learning what questions to ask to uncover underlying assumptions and most important of all, what the underlying assumptions of the Christian faith are. And our Humanities Cores D, E, and F teach students to apply this knowledge to the history, literature, and thought of the Ancient, Medieval, and Modern periods. In other words, there is a progression of knowledge and competencies that is built year by year in a deliberate manner.
In terms of the “advantage” that dual enrollment offers of obtaining college credit while in high school, we would suggest the following: Continue a home-based education with the help of PEP. Prepare for and take the AP and CLEP tests. It's quite possible to earn up to two years of college credit apart from attending the local college or university without having to endure the shortcomings of dual-enrollment. Prepare well for the SAT
Take PEP's Core Curriculum in Eleventh and Twelfth Grades. Because of PEP’s unique Core Curriculum, your child will be in a strong position to compete for substantial scholarship help at competitive schools.
College and university dual enrollment is an offer that you should refuse. For Christian families engaged in a home-based education, the drawbacks are far more serious and significant than the benefits. Your child will benefit spiritually, academically, and financially by refusing this offer and pursuing a home-based education through PEP.