The state of Maine will pay for up to 18 college credits for students to take early college classes. Each class can be worth up to 8 credits. The math is important, because if a student hits that 18 credit threshold, courses are no longer free, and families will incur costs from the college.
There are two situations where WHS students earn college credit. One is through our Dual Enrollment classes, which are WHS classes (e.g. English 4) and are taught in conjunction with USM or SMCC curriculum, and therefore students are eligible to earn college credit in addition to high school credit. They have the choice whether to earn the college credit or not.
The other situation is where students actually enroll in a course directly with the college. That is typically an online course, but does not necessarily need to be. Those courses generally fall under the 18 free college credits, which is a great opportunity. Those are also the situations where students and families should be aware that if they have already earned 18 credits through other coursework, the courses will not be free.
It is important to know these details, because it might make sense in certain situations to forego college credit in a Dual Enrollment class in order to preserve the option to earn free credit elsewhere during junior or senior year. If you would like to have a more nuanced conversation about this process, please reach out to Nicole Sturgis (sturgisn@westbrookschools.org).