Students at Pella High School earned over 2000 college credit hours last year, thanks to the number of dual-enrollment courses made available to them. That’s according to Pella High School Principal Mark Lee, who presented the data to the Pella School Board at their last meeting. Lee says the number of courses available can help students save a lot of money on college.

“There’s really no reason for a student who really applies themselves to not [be able] to leave high school with 30 college credits,” says Lee,
“which is pretty significant when you think of the cost of going to college.”

Lee adds that the opportunity to get a head start in college and save thousands of dollars has generated a movement among parents to encourage their children to take the college credit courses.

“We have moms and dads out there who say, ‘No, you need to take this class or that class and get those out of the way before you get to college,’ so it’s become kind of a family affair in terms of motivating their sons and daughters to take these classes,” said Lee.

In the ‘08-’09 school year at Pella High School, there were a total of 531 student enrollments in the 16 courses available that qualify for college credit, earning those students 2,222 college credits.