Thinking Ahead: Dual Credit

Due to U-High students’ rising interest in Heartland Dual Credit Courses, there will be three new courses next year.

New for Sophomores will be the option of HCC Communication 101, a class that will cover the Oral Communication mandatory credit. Seniors will have the option of HCC Math 109 to replace College Algebra, as well as the fourth level of Mandarin, Chin 202. Mandarin Chinese is also available to juniors who are ready to take the fourth level.  

“Both parents and students have expressed interest in this program,” Guidance Counselor Courtney O’Connor said. “It will be interesting to see how many students want to take it and how many hours we decide to offer.”

However, there are some requirements to meet in order to take these courses.

“The first step would be to indicate interest through Career Cruising. After that to then meet the Heartland requirement by scoring on the placement exam,” O’Connor said. “Filling out the Heartland application is the last step.”

While these classes will be new, many students are already familiar with the classes offered at Heartland Community College. For Senior Maanav Patel, taking Heartland Dual Credit has allowed him to experience courses that are within a potential career interest. A decision that resulted in taking math classes such Calculus Three and Differential Equations at Heartland.

“I’m going into Computer Science so I knew I would have to take advanced math classes,” Patel said. “Calc Three taught me to be independent since I didn’t have other people to work with at other times in my day.”

For Junior Maura Coughlin, an interest in Heartland Courses lies in having seen her siblings take Dual Credit. She’s carrying out her interests by taking English 101 at Heartland, a class she enjoys as a different experience than the traditional classroom setting.

“The thing I’ve found most interesting has been being put into a whole new pool of peers,” Coughlin said. “Since the class is offered at a community college, I’m not restricted to a class of only teens, but a much broader age range! It offers a wide array of opinions and outlooks when it comes to curriculum.”

Expecting to see this program grow with a wider array of interests from students, O’Connor feels she doesn’t expect anything but success from students in these programs.

“We wouldn’t be offering these courses if we didn’t think our students were capable or interested.”