By the time Thatcher Respicio and Marcella Ballisty walk across their high school stages later this spring, they will already hold college degrees, reports Joe Holden for CBS News Philadelphia.
They are part of a movement that’s reshaping how Pennsylvania students pursue education.
The two Chester County teenagers earned associate degrees from Delaware County Community College before their high school graduations even arrived.
Respicio of Downingtown East High School focused his studies on engineering. Meanwhile, Ballisty of Downingtown West completed her Liberal Arts degree.
The path that got them there is called dual enrollment, a program that lets high schoolers take college-level courses and stack credits toward both a diploma and a degree at the same time. Once a niche option, dual enrollment has spread steadily across Pennsylvania as families look for ways to trim future tuition bills and give students a head start on their careers or four-year degrees.
Respicio and Ballisty were two of 30 high school students who graduated with college credit at Delaware County Community College last Thursday.
Students described the challenge of balancing advanced coursework, extracurricular activities, and traditional high school responsibilities. “It was a lot learning about time management,” Respicio said. Ballisty summed up the experience in four words: “a journey for sure.”
Delaware County Community College noted that several of its dual enrollment graduates in the class of 2026 completed their associate degrees before their high school commencements, meaning some will walk into four-year universities this fall not as freshmen, but with sophomore standing or higher already in hand.
Read more about Chester County high school graduates earning college credit in CBS News Philadelphia.
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