With scheduling for the next school year becoming the focus for most high school students in the spring, it is important to understand all of the options available. Most students already know about the AP course options or the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center, but may not know about the College Credit Plus (CCP) pathway.
CCP is a program that gives students the opportunity to begin earning college credit while still working towards high school requirements via enrollment in courses through various colleges. In some cases these classes can be taken online or on campus, but they can also be taken at the highschool. Nicholas DePompei, a counselor at RHS, is the main liaison when it comes to the CCP program.
There are many benefits to taking CCP classes. Not only are classes free, but some put students on a 5.0 scale for their GPA instead of a 4.0. Additionally, DePompei explains that students have the opportunity to earn credits towards college graduation as well as high school.
“It shows rigor on their transcript, a high level class. And then, . . . depend[ing] on where you go to school when you leave here, you could end up with college credit on top of it. Which means you’re starting to check things off the box that you would do in your freshman year of college,” he said.
In most cases, for a CCP class to count for college credit, a student would have to plan to go to an in-state, public school such as Ohio State or Cleveland State. According to DePompei, private schools may or may not recognize the credits.
“If you’re going to a private institution or out of state, they have to look it over and say that it’s going to count. So you’re kind of in their hands. . . . Nowadays, it’s more and more likely that universities will at least work with students because CCP is just becoming so prevalent that many students coming out of school are bringing those with them,” he said.
The steps to enroll in CCP courses are not difficult but timeliness is key. A letter of intent must be completed by April first before students apply to their preferred college and then the student must actually apply to the college and be accepted.
“[The letter of intent is] just a simple one piece of paper telling the Revere school district that you are interested in partaking in that. You have to have that letter in so we can count on the amount of money that it’s going to cost. Then, you need to apply to whatever institution that the student wants to go to,” DePomepi said.
When it comes to choosing a college, students have many options. All in-house classes go through the University of Akron, but students can also choose to enroll in any university for online or on campus options.
“It’s up to the student, but you’d have to apply to each place to get in and do the paperwork that’s necessary, which we have all here. And then you would schedule your courses,” DePompei said.
RHS Principal Doug Faris encourages students to participate in these classes if they are interested, prepared for the workload and are able to manage their time well. Without these qualities, students may struggle to keep up and need to understand the permanence of these classes.
“I will say it definitely comes with a risk. If you mess around and don’t pass the class, you have to pay for it, and it’s part of your college transcript. It is there no matter what your grade is,” Faris said.
It is important to note that although the staff at Revere is there to help guide students through the steps of enrollment, it is up to the student to stay up to date on emails and assignments to ensure they are not missing valuable information or missing due dates. Besides social studies and English classes, students can take intermediate Spanish I and II or intermediate French I and II. These classes are structured to mirror the on campus versions. Faris recommends starting in-house with either of the core CCP classes, Composition English I and II or Government & Politics and US History. Jason Milczewski, the teacher for both CCP social studies classes, has to stick to a strict structure that is provided by the University of Akron.
“We have to structure them like Akron does. . . . If it’s a three hour class at Akron, it’s a three hour class here. . . . The college requirements as far as contacting parents and seeing grades and all that stuff all has to be followed. We also have to follow the Akron syllabus and their curriculum. The only difference is you are still a Revere student, so even on days you don’t have class, you have to be here,” Milczewski said.
Milczewski recommends CCP classes specifically for students who excel more in test taking than daily work because the classes can be more self guided with only a couple of essays and tests.
CCP classes are an opportunity for students who already know they want to take the college pathway or those who would be looking for more self guided class structures. However, these classes do go on a permanent transcript and must be taken seriously. Should a student be interested in enrolling, they can find the letter of intent in the counselor’s office or main office or can reach out to their counselor with questions about next steps.
