INA, Ill. (November 22, 2022) — It is commonly known that taking college credit classes while enrolled in high school can be a time saver that accelerates your academic career. What is not as widely known is how valuable doing so can be. In the past two decades that Rend Lake College has been offering dual credit classes, local students and families have saved more than $18,000,000.
High school students are thinking about the future more than ever, with good cause. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, those earning an associate's degree will earn 17% more income than those with a high school diploma. When advancing to a bachelor's degree, that amount increases to 64%.
Breaking Down The Numbers
In FY22, local students and families in Rend lake College's district and programs saved tuition on 4067 credit hours through dual credit classes, leading to savings of $447,370. When factoring additional textbook discounts of $357,714.75 into the mix, students saved $805,084.75. These savings are spread across 15 schools and programs.
Dual Credit Savings by School
- Mt. Vernon ($105,710) – 312 students with 961 credit hours
- Pinckneyville ($80,080) – 225 students with 728 credit hours
- Benton ($74,250) – 200 students with 675 credit hours
- Hamilton County ($43,340) – 118 students with 394 credit hours
- Webber ($25,190) – 76 students with 229 credit hours
- Sesser-Valier ($24,750) – 105 students with 225 credit hours
- Wayne City ($21,560) – 61 students with 196 credit hours
- Christopher ($21,340) – 50 students with 194 credit hours
- Woodlawn ($18,480) – 54 students with 168 credit hours
- Zeigler - Royalton ($7,810) – 25 students with 71 credit hours
- Waltonville ($5,830) – 19 students with 53 credit hours
- Thompsonville ($5,280) – 16 students with 48 credit hours
Additionally, the Franklin County EDGE program saved $3,300 with six students and 30 credit hours, the Jefferson and Perry County CEO program saved $6,050 with 11 students and 55 credit hours, and other local schools participating saved $4,400 with 14 students and 40 credit hours.
The total for dual credit savings is $447,337, benefiting 1292 students and earning 4067 credit hours.
Text Book Savings by School
- Mt. Vernon ($135,163.60) – across 778 textbooks
- Pinckneyville ($74,820.47) – across 450 textbooks
- Benton ($48,369.80) – across 309 textbooks
- Hamilton County ($29,799.80) – across 215 textbooks
- Webber ($22,193.30) – across 187 textbooks
- Wayne City ($20,040.96) – across 145 textbooks
- Woodlawn ($16,315.20) – across 123 textbooks
- Christopher ($15,998.71) – across 98 textbooks
- Sesser-Valier ($13,804.68) – across 83 textbooks
- Waltonville ($13,001.60) – across 48 textbooks
- Thompsonville ($8,698.90) – across 79 textbooks
- Zeigler - Royalton ($5,554.21) – across 57 textbooks
Across the 12 participating schools, 2,572 books were discounted for $357,714.75 in savings.
How popular is Rend Lake College's dual credit program?
In the spring of 2022, more than 400 current RLC students completed a survey. Of those, 53% said they took a course through RLC while in high school. This amount is nearly triple the average of all other colleges that conducted the same survey on their campuses. Some of those students participated in dual credit and dual enrollment. Scenarios such as these allowed seven students to walk across the stage at the 2022 Rend Lake College Commencement ceremony before graduating high school. The dual credit and dual enrollment hour totals for FY22 are 2,274 credit hours among 216 students.
More Information
High school juniors and seniors can take advantage of dual credit courses. Dual credit allows students to earn college credit at the same time they are completing high school course requirements. This opportunity means earning college transfer and career courses, which can be applied to degree programs and certifications at RLC. Once students successfully complete dual credit courses, they will receive grades and credit hours from their high school and RLC. Students must meet certain requirements and prerequisites before enrolling in courses and are subject to permission from their local high school.
For more information about dual credit at RLC, visit rlc.edu/dualcredit. Interested students should consult with their high school guidance counselors to find out how to enroll in dual credit classes.
