Does college credit sound appealing? Within the school there’s a certain amount of advanced classes you can take which can offer this. College in High School, Advanced Placement courses, and Running Start are some of these college course programs. 

College in the High School and AP classes are very similar in nature, with it being the same workload and at the high school, while Running Start appears to be different.

“A lot of them are combined–are the same. AP is a specific company called College Board that sets up a big nationwide test every year. College in High School is run by the local community colleges, it’s based on just the actual curriculum of the course, there is no major test required. Running Start is when the student chooses to be either part time or full time at the high school and that determines how many college courses they will take at the same community college” AP history teacher Mr Keeley said.

There are many options for you to choose in order to obtain college credit. Despite this, before deciding you also have to think about the subject of cost and money. 

“The cheapest now is College in High School, it costs nothing, Running Start still costs your books and travel expenses if you are taking classes… Now that we are online more, there are a lot of kids who will do online Running Start too. All the books and any lab fees here in College in High School classes here are paid for and the tuition has now been waived by the state government,” said Keeley.

Another important factor to consider is the workload that College in High School and AP classes have compared to Running Start. Running Start often has more concentrated sessions fitting the same amount of work into a smaller amount of time which could allow for possibly more classes in a shorter amount of time, although people tend to take less at a time.

“Because they are offered at a high school level I can bet the homewok is a lot easier than doing Running Start or the actual class… I have talked to some Running Start students and I know that their classes have been very heavy on them and they are usually very struck with homework.” Maia Lopez (25’) said as she talked about the workload many Running Start students have difficulties with. 

Lots of students have difficulties with both AP/College in High School classes and Running Start. It’s important to think of how much work and stress you can handle at this age as well as just general social interactions that you get from high school that simply aren’t in college. 

“Most kids need the social interactions with their peers, I think for the most of us that’s actually really important… Sometimes kids are too excited to move on with their lives…  you don’t have to have your whole life figured out when you’re done here…It’s good to get college credit and move forward but it’s also not a big stress… I recommend you take it, but life is long, so don’t try to cram it all in right now, it’s ok to be a kid” AP history teacher Mr Schilaty said.

Whichever you decide to chose to do, or even none at all it’s important to think it through and look at them in a general way, its also helps to ask teachers their opinions on what they think might be the best fit for you.