Admissions

Beacon’s dual enrollment course — “Learning Essentials & Self Discovery” — began this past spring for juniors and seniors at Leesburg and South Lake high schools. Designed for high school and college credit, the course is modeled on the same one for Beacon first-year students.

“The dual enrollment program at Beacon College, like those at Lake-Sumter State College and Lake Technical College, along with our various Career and Technical Education certification programs, give students a competitive edge and sets them up for success,” said Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay. “It is through these postsecondary partnerships that we are able to ensure that every student has the opportunity to accelerate their learning and graduate prepared for college and the workforce.”

Though new to dual enrollment, Beacon is far from a newcomer to college readiness programs for high schoolers with learning and attention issues. The college offers on-campus summer courses, virtual transition programs with one-on-one coaching, and a number of online collegiate courses.

“It’s exciting to bring our mission into high schools for students who learn differently,” said DeJarnett, program coordinator and assistant chair of Beacon’s General Education Department. “So many times, they are told there’s no place in college for them; that they can’t succeed. It falls on our shoulders to get into the schools and show them there is, in fact, a place for them. I believe this program is critical in giving them that sense of confidence they can make it.”

Its dual enrollment program has been a while in the making as Beacon’s team worked to cover all the bases. That included selecting the best qualified high school teachers to teach the course, training them in the Beacon approach for students who learn differently, and establishing a working relationship between teachers and Beacon support staff, such as learning specialists and counselors.

“Beacon is such a special place for our neurodiverse student population, we have to make sure when we make dual enrollment available in the community, we do it the right way,” said Dr. Kevin Reilly, Beacon’s vice president for academic affairs. “It’s especially important for us to provide the appropriate level of support services for those dual enrollment students. And because of our neurodiverse student profile, that takes a little more work than your basic dual enrollment program.”

Several factors have created the recent wave of dual enrollment in the U.S., experts say. Many community colleges have embraced it to help offset their decline in enrollment as many high school graduates are instead joining the work force or entering four-year colleges. Also, more states are creating or expanding dual enrollment programs to increase access to college education.

But the main factor is cost savings for families. Most dual enrollment courses, like Beacon’s, are offered free of charge by the public school system.

“People are concerned about the costs of higher education: state legislators and governors, families and students,” Josh Wyner, executive director of the College Excellence Program at the Aspen Institute, told Edsurge.com. “The idea of getting college credit while you’re in high school is appealing as a way of holding the cost of college down.”

For DeJarnett, the impact on the lives of dual enrollment students is worth all the hard work to make it happen.

“I love to see the feeling of pride they have at getting this opportunity to take a college course,” she said. “We also have them visit Beacon, spend a day with us, have lunch on campus, and understand they are part of us. It helps instill in them the sense of accomplishment they get from earning credit on their college transcript.”