Student Feature: CCP program accelerates students’ education at YSU

FEATURE STORY

Story by: Hannah Werle, Journalism major
Photography by: Omar Frazier, Multimedia Communication major

Almost 10 years ago, the Ohio Department of Higher Education introduced the College Credit Plus program, which would allow students in seventh through 12th-grade to earn high school and college credits simultaneously, all at the cost of the state and school district.

Since then, first-year students have been enrolling at Youngstown State University with anywhere from one college credit to several years’ worth. In fact, since the introduction of the program, students have been able to graduate with both their high school diploma and their bachelor’s degree.

Adyson Andric is a second-year Primary Education major, but she has enough college credits to qualify her as a junior. With as many credits as she has, she will likely be able to graduate a year earlier than the rest of her high school classmates.

One of the biggest appeals to the CCP program is that the classes are provided at no or limited costs to students. Andric said this is one of the main reasons she enrolled in the program.

“I decided to do CCP in high school because I just felt like it would save me so much money, and it has. I'm fortunate enough that my parents help me [pay for] school and stuff, but I still didn't want to put all that on them — it's a lot, and school can be expensive. It just felt right for me to do it, my high school was going to pay for it. To me, it just seemed like a no brainer,” Andric said.

Andric said her high school promoted CCP as an option for students, which is how she learned about the program. She began taking classes her sophomore year and by the time she was a senior, she was attending classes on campus at YSU full time.

“I took my general education classes my sophomore and junior year of high school, and then by the time I was in my senior year, I had enough prerequisites to actually take the core classes for my major,” Andric said.

Andric explained that the CCP program gave her the opportunity to get ahead and focus on classes she was passionate about.

“When I was only taking high school classes, it was just like math, science — I was just so excited to move on to the next step and learn about things that I was going to be using in my career,” Andric said. “I was glad to be doing that instead of the basic stuff.”

Doing CCP in high school allowed Andric to adjust to college life and responsibilities. Andric said doing CCP helped her learn better time management skills, as she had to balance her schedule between a high school, college and extracurriculars.

Graduating early will also be beneficial, Andric explained, because it will allow her to find good positions before they are filled, and hopefully find a teaching job she can keep well into her career.

“With teaching it’s like, if you find a good job you can stay there until retirement. But, there are so many teachers going for the same thing that it can be hard to find those open spots. Now that I’m a year ahead, I feel like I can work my way in without waiting another year, when the jobs might be filled,” Andric said.

While she was taking classes on campus, Andric developed strong relationships with her professors, who she said were understanding of her situation and were willing to work with her and provide extensions as needed.

“When I first started taking college classes, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this teacher is not going to put up with anything, this is college.’ That’s what teachers tell you in high school,” Andric said. “But, every single professor that I’ve had here has been so understanding. If you need an extension, they’ll help you, or if you need something, if there’s something going on, they’ll say, ‘Okay, if you need help, these are my office hours. You can always come in.’ There’s just so much support here.”

Didi Tensley, a Biochemistry major on the BaccMed track, is also a second-year college student with the credits of a junior.

Tensley began taking CCP classes because she wanted to feel more challenged.

“My mindset is, if I'm not being challenged then I’m not growing. My high school courses weren't really challenging me, and I felt like I wasn't really learning anything new. So, I decided to start doing CCP because I already knew I wanted to go to college,” Tensley said. “It was like, ‘Okay, why not get that first step in, right?’”

In addition to regular CCP classes, Tensley also took CCP honors credits through the Sokolov Honors College. By the time she graduated high school, she had 38 college credits hours, 20 of which were honors credits.

Tensley learned about taking CCP honors credits through one of the honors college representatives, Johnny Ware, who encouraged her to attend YSU and get engaged in the campus community.

“I decided to become a part of the honors college because I knew [Ware] and he told me about the BaccMed program, which was through them,” Tensley said. “He explained how to contract for honors credit courses, and he introduced me to Molly Hartup, who was in charge of honors CCP. That’s when I started taking honors classes, and contracting for honors.”

Tensely said CCP allowed a smooth learning curve and transition into college, as she began the program taking one online class a semester and gradually increased her workload until she had a full in-person schedule.

“I feel like it was the best transition between high school and college life. The way I did it was just very smooth. I learned how to balance my high school schedule and my sports. I feel like it really prepared me,” Tensely said.

The faculty in the honors college encouraged Tensley to develop relationships with her professors, which is what led her to becoming a research assistant with Alicia Prieto Langarica, a professor of Mathematics and Statistics.

She began working with Prieto in Spring 2023, while Tensely was still a senior in high school. The project, which Tensely is still a part of, is a cost benefit analysis of yearly mammograms, focusing on an individualized approach.

“I went to Dr. Prieto’s office hours for help with Calculus II, while I was there I was asking questions like ‘Well how did you get that answer?’ I wanted to know the how and why, the because — everything. She asked if I would be interested in doing research with her, and from there we were meeting constantly and working on things,” Tensely said.

Tensely said her experience doing CCP taught her life-long lesions and gave her once in a lifetime opportunities. She touched on the kindness of her professors, and the helpfulness of the faculty she worked with. Ultimately, Tensley said, she’d do it all over again.

The CCP program has made a lasting impact on students like Andric and Tensley, offering them the chance to advance their education and careers in ways they hadn’t thought possible.

As they continue to navigate their paths with confidence and purpose, it’s clear that the program’s benefits will resonate far beyond their time at YSU.