Pointing to the impact cuts in education funding has on economically struggling school districts and Chester County’s two historically Black universities, State Senator Andy Dinniman over the weekend called on Pennsylvania law makers to allow high school juniors and seniors to earn college credits while still in high school.

In an Op-Ed piece in Harrisburg’s The Patriot News‘ online edition timed to coincide with the Martin Luther King holiday, Senator Andy Dinniman and Valerie Harrison, acting President of Lincoln University, made a case that allowing high school students to take college classes saves money and provides a college “onramp” to students who might otherwise opt out of continuing their education beyond high school.

Dual enrollment offers high school juniors and seniors a chance to earn college credits while still in high school.

The approach, according to Dinniman and Harrison helps “both financially-struggling school districts and student-starved universities,” including Cheyney and Lincoln Universities.

However, many students in underfunded schools miss out on the opportunity to take higher level and Advanced Placement courses due to a lack of financial resources, necessary materials and available teachers.

As a result, their route to college credit – one that could potentially result in college enrollment – is again blocked by the failure to support basic educational needs. We are failing them, too.

Dual enrollment can reopen that path, while revitalizing enrollment at universities where it is needed the most. For example, why not afford top students at underserved Philadelphia high schools the opportunity to take college-level classes at Lincoln and Cheyney?

Why not give them the chance to interact with faculty members, many of whom have ties to the Philadelphia community and thus could serve as ideal mentors? Is there any doubt that getting these young people involved in college-level classes earlier will put them on track to continue their higher education and get a degree after high school?

Dinniman and Harrison point to successful dual-enrollment programs in Oxford and West Chester school districts and another program at Radnor’s Cabrini College as real-life evidence of dual enrollment educational and cost savings merit:

This year the Oxford Area School District established a pilot program with Cecil College that will allow 20 students to earn high school and college credit simultaneously. In December, Cabrini College forged a partnership with eight Pennsylvania high schools to offer junior and senior students the opportunity to earn up to 30 college credits.

Most recently, the West Chester Area School District announced plans to kickoff a dual enrollment program for juniors and seniors at West Chester University next year.

Read Dinniman’s and Harrison’s Op-Ed piece making the case for dual enrollment on pennlive.com here.